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LIFE SKETCHES 



STATE OFFICERS, SENATORS, 



MEMBERS or THE ASSEMBLY, 



STATE OF NEW YORK, 



IN 1868. 



By S. R. HARLOW and S. C. IIUTCHINS. 




o ALB~^rNi: (^ 

WEED, PAKSOJfS & COMPANY, PRIXTERS. 

1868. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year eighteen hundred an( sixty- 
seven, 

Bt S. R. HAELOW and S. C, HUTCHINS, 

in the Clerli's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Northern 

District of New York. 



PEEFAOE. 



Life Sketches originated in 18GG, and tlie first volume was 
published in 18G7, containing concise records of the lives of the 
State Officers and Members of the Legislature of that year. Its 
success justified its continuation the present year. The aim of its 
Editors has been to make it authentic in its facts and dates, and uo 
pains have been spared to render it so, though occasional errors may 
possibly be found. It has also been the desire of the Editors, to 
indulge in no undeserved praise, or fulsome laudation, but to give 
every man credit honestly for all he is in himself personally, and 
all he has been able to accomplish, and thus bring out tlie distin- 
guishing traits of each man. It is possible that some may have 
been over-estimated, and others not sufficiently credited. But in 
tlae main we believe it can be said tliat the work is reliable in its 
estimates of character. 

A change appears in the editorial management, Mr. Boone, Avhose 
accomplishments contributed so largely to the value of the first 
issue, being unable to continue particularly identified with it the 
present season, owing to the nature of his business engagements. 

The Editors renew their thanks to many gentlemen Avho have 
rendered invaluable assistance in furnishing incidents and dates for 
the compilation of these Sketches. 

They would also acknowledge the kind favors of the Press in 
18G7, all, without exception, having borne flattering testimonials to 
the merits of the work. Their publication is unnecessary. 

It will be seen that the Sketches of the Members of the Legisla- 
ture are alphabetically arranged, thus removing the necessity for 
an index. 



LIFE SKETCHES. 



REUBEN E. FENTON, 

GOVERXOE. 

Reuben E. Fenton, who was chosen Governor of New 
York for a second term, in November, 1866, was born 
in Carroll, Chautauqua county, on the 4th of July, 1819. 
His father is a native of New Hampshire; but the Fenton 
family is of Connecticut origin. His grandfather resided 
there until about the year 1777. The Governor is a 
descendant of Robert Fenton, wlio was a man of note 
among the early settlers of that State, and one of the 
patentees of Mansfield, when that town was set off from 
Windham, in 1703. The flimily was a patriotic one during 
the Revolutionarj- war, and furnished its share of soldiei'S 
in " the times which tried men's souls," who did good 
service in the struggle which resulted in the establishment 
of our Republican government. 

Governor Fenton is the son of a hard-working farmer, 
and spent his early years on the old homestead. He was 
an amiable, friendly boy, and a universal favorite among 
his associates. Whatever was cjoinc: on in the neighbor- 
hood where he lived, he was expected to participate in and 
lead. When the boys organized for " a training," they 
invariably placed young Fenton in command ; and it is 
probably owing to this fact, and the military knowledge 



LIFE SKETCHES, 

thus acquired, that before he was twenty-one years of age 
he was elected to the Colonelcy of the 162d regiment, 
New York State Militia. 

His opportunities for acquiring au education Avere very 
limited, but they were well improved. He was a good 
scholar when he was in the common school, and when, 
subsequently, he passed a few terms in difterent academies, 
he made rapid progress as a student, and won the appro- 
bation of his preceptors for his manly qualities and exem- 
plary deportment. He read law one year, not with the 
view of going into the profession, but to make himself 
familiar with the principles and forms of that science, 
under the impression that this knowledge would be useful 
to him in whate^'er business he might engage. 

At the age of twenty he commenced business, with very 
limited means, and under adverse circumstances. But the 
fact did not discourage him, nor turn liim from his pur- 
poses. The world was before him, and what others had 
accomplished, young Fkxton resolved should be done by 
him. He went at his work Avith all the earnestness and 
energy of his character, and a few years saw him a success- 
ful and prosperous merchant. While in this pursuit, he 
turned his attention to the lumber trade, as an auxiliary to 
his mercantile business. He was still a young man when he 
purchased his first " boards and shingles," and as he floated 
off upon his fragile raft, valued at less than one thousand 
dollars, there were not wanting those who wondered at 
his temerity, and the failure of his enterprise was confi- 
dently predicted. But nothing could dampen his ardor. 
He tied his little raft safely on the shore of the Ohio, near 
Cincinnati, went into the city, found a customer, sold his 
lumber, and returned to his home with a pride and satis- 
faction never excelled in after years, though he went the 
round with profits ten-fold greater. Lumbering became 
in a few years his principal business ; and to sucli a man, 



REUBEN E. FEXTON. 7 

success and competence Avere but a matter of time. He 
soon enjoyed the reputation of being the most suc- 
cessful lumberman on the Alleghany and Ohio rivers; 
but this came only because he wrought it by untiring 
perseverance and indefatigable energy. 

In the business capacity of Governor Fenton, will be 
found the basis of his success in life ; and to the same fact 
he is doubtless in a great measure, indebted for his politi- 
cal advancement. Uniting superior business qualities with 
an invincible determination to succeed in whatever he 
undertakes, he has seldom failed to attain the object of 
his ambition. He was successful as a merchant ; suc- 
cessful as a lumberman ; and he has been successful as a 
politician. His idea is that a man to succeed, should be 
" always on hand." He was accustomed to fill liis store 
with goods before his neighbors filled theirs ; and in the 
early spring, before " the thaw " was expected, his lumber 
was snugly rafted on the banks of creeks, ready to take 
the current and be the first to reach Pittsburgh and Cin- 
cinnati. It was not only a pride he felt in being at the 
head of the river fleets, but exj^erience on different occa- 
sions when his readiness and preparation found him the 
only man in mai'ket, had taught him that it was equally 
profitable. 

In 1843, Mr. Fexton was chosen Supervisor of his native 
town, and held the position for eight successive years. 
Three of these eight he was Chairman of the Board, 
though the Board was two to one Whig, while he was a 
well-known Democrat. But he was courteous and affixble, 
manly and upright, genial and sensible, and his opponents 
by common consent selected him to preside over their 
deliberations. "What higher compliment could be paid 
him as a fair-minded and honorable man ! 

In 1849, his friends tried him for the Assembly, and he 
came within twenty-one votes of being elected, though 



8 LIFE SKETCHES. 

tliG successful candidate was one of the oldest and most 
popular men in the Assembly district, which was strongly 
Whig. 

In 1852, he was nominated by his Democratic friends 
for Congress, and elected by fifty-two majority, though 
the district, from the manner in which it was accustomed 
to vote, should have given at least 3,000 majority against 
him. He took his seat on the first Monday in Decembei", 
1853, in a House Avhich was Democratic by about two to 
one. Mr. Douglas, Chairman of the Senate Committee on 
Territories, in the course of the session was beguiled into 
embodying in a bill which provided for the organization 
as territories of Kansas and Nebraska, a repeal of that 
portion of the Missouri compromise of 1820, which forbade 
the legalization of slavery in any territory of the United 
States, lying north of N. lat. 36° 30'. Mr. Fentox, with N". 
P. Banks, and quite a number of the younger Democrats, 
with Col. Thomas H. Bextox and other seniors, stead- 
fiistly opposed this proposition, and opposed the bill 
because of it. The bill Avas nevertheless forced through 
the House by a vote of 113 to 100, and became a law. 
In the division that thereupon ensued, Mr. Fexton took 
Republican ground with Preston Kixg, Ward Hunt, 
George Opdyke, and other conspicuous Democrats, and 
he has never since been other than a Republican. 

In 1854, the Know Xothings carried his district by a 
considerable majority (Mr. Fentox consenting to be a can- 
didate on the Saturday previous to election), as they did 
a good many others in the State; but, in 1856, he ran on 
the Fremont ticket, and was elected, and thence reelected 
by large and generally increasing majorities down to 1864, 
when he withdrew, having been nominated for Governor, 
He thus served five terms in Congress, each as the repre- 
sentative of the strongly Whig district composed of 
Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties, which contains 



EEUBEN E. FEXTOX. 9 

many able and worthy men who wei-e in full accord with 
its by-gone politics, and to the almost unanimous accept- 
ance of his constituents. 

Immediately on entering Congress, Mr. Fenton espoused 
the cause of the soldiers of 1S12, and shortly after intro- 
duced a bill providing for the payment of the property 
accounts between the United States and the State of New 
York, for military stores furnished in the war of 1812. 
This measure he continued to urge upon the attention of 
Congress,' and finally, on the .30th May, 1860, had the 
satisfaction to witness its passage in the House by a vote 
of 98 to 80. He had a leading place on important com- 
mittees, and performed the duties appertaining to these 
positions in a manner satisfactory to all. It is but simple 
truth to say that he was one of the quietly industrious 
and faithful members of the House. Nor was he a silent 
representative. He could talk when there seemed a neces- 
sity for speaking. During his Congressional career, he 
delivered able and effective speeches against the repeal of 
the Missouri Compromise Act ; in advocacy of a cheap 
postal system ; the bill to extend invalid pensions ; for 
the improvement of rivers and harbors ; to regulate 
emigration to this country ; against the policy of the 
Democratic ]iarty with regard to Kansas ; for the final 
settlement of the claims of the soldiers of the Revolu- 
tion; in vindication of the principles and policy of the 
Republican party ; on the Deficiency bill ; the bill to 
facilitate the payment of bounties; on the repeal of the 
Fugitive Slave Law; on providing for payment of losses 
by the rebellion, etc. 

Mr. Fenton served in Congress nearly to the end of the 
war for the Union, of which lie was one of the firmest 
and most efficient supporters. Believing the Union to be 
right and the rebellion wrong throughout, he gave his 
best energies to the national cause, voting steadily for 
2 



lO LIFE SKETCHES. 

taxes, loans, levies, drafts, and for the emancipation policy 
whereby they were rendered effectual. Men of greater 
pretensions were abundant in Congress, but there was 
none more devoted, or more ready to invoke and to make 
sacrifices for the triumph of the Union. 

In the fall of 1862, Mr. Fenton's name was favorably 
mentioned in connection with the office of Governor, but 
finding Gen. Wadsworth was to be pressed for a nomina- 
tion, Mr. Fentox promptly withdrew from the canvass, and 
yielded to the patriot soldier his warmest support. In 
1864, Mr. Fexton was designated as the standard-bearer 
of the Republican party, and chpsen Governor by a 
majority considerably larger than Mr. Lincoln's ; and two 
years later, he was unanimously re-nominated, and chosen 
by an increased majority. 

The administration of Governor Fexton commenced 
at the culminating period of the war, and required the 
exercise of industry, method, decision, and the poAver of 
discriminating, originating and executing. He brought to 
the discharge of his new position all these forces of body 
and mind, and proved patient amid perplexities, quick in 
his perceptions, safe in his judgments, mastering toilsome 
details, and successfully meeting difficult emergencies. 
His practical training, his wide experience, his luminous 
intellect and well-disciplined judgment, saved him from 
the failure that a man of less power might have encoun- 
tered. His official relations with our soldiers did not 
weaken the attachments that had given him the honored 
title of the "soldier's friend." He Avas i^rompt to rcAvard 
merit, and skillful to harmonize differences that often 
threatened demoralization and serious injury to many of 
the military organizations then in the field. Ui^on the 
return of our brave boys, Governor Fenton addressed the 
following letter to the War Committees of the various 
districts in the State : 



REUBEN E. FENTON'. 11 



Gentlemen : The Icate orders of the Secretary of War for muster- 
ing out a large portion of the grand army are being rapidly carried 
into effect, and it is to be hoped that by the Fourth of July most 
of the regiments to be discharged under the orders will have reached 
their homes. In view of this fact, allow me to call your attention 
to the propriety of celebrating that day in a manner not only befitting 
the anniversary of the nation's birth, but also commemorating its 
recent rescue from imminent peril. I need not &a.y that welcome 
and all honor to the men whose patriotism has consecrated the 
nation to a new career of greater freedom, whose bravery has given 
security from strife and perpetuity to our institutions, should be one 
of the most prominent features of such an occasion. Let us at once 
demonstrate, by a grand ovation, our devotion to the institutions 
preserved to u?, and our gratitude to those who with heroic con- 
stancy, defended them through years of terrible war. I have 
thought best not to issue an executive proclamation to this end, as 
I prefer this demonstration should be the spontaneous uprising of 
the people, eagerly welcoming back the citizen soldiers — our friends 
and neighbors — from the dangers of the battle-field and the severe 
duties of military discipline, to peace and the exercise of civil rights 
under the quiet which their valor has secured. I sincerely hope 
these suggestions may meet with favor from your people, and that 
each locality will arrange such a programme as shall, according to 
its circumstances, best devote the day to commemoration, gratitude 
and general rejoicing. 

Very truly yours, R. E. FEl^TON. 



His judicious course fully commanded public confidence 
and approval, and at the close of the first year of his term, 
Moses H. Gkixxell, War. M, Vermilye, Joseph B. 
Collins, Richard L. TxIylor, Peter Cooper, John 
Hecker, Minthorxe Tompkixs, Isaac Sherman, J. S. 
ScHULTZ and manj'- other prominent and wealthy citizens 
of New York city, addressed to him a letter of thanks, 
pi-omising him their hearty cooperation and support in his 
effortiS to meliorate the condition of the metropolis. A 



12 LIFE SKETCnES. 

few months later, -when in New York city, thousands of 
sucli men Availed upon him in person, giving higli assur- 
ance of respect and approbation. The " New York 
Tribune " referred to this remarkable demonstration as a 
proper recognition of official worth and integrity, saying, 
"This hearty welcome sprang from generous and enduring 
remembrance of the protection afforded to our municipal 
rights and franchises, in his judicious exercise of the veto 
power." 

His vetoes of various bills which would have deprived 
the City of New York of valuable franchises, without 
compensating advantages, proved so acceptable to the 
Board of Supervisors of New York county, that the fol- 
lowing resolution was unanimously adopted : 

Resolved, That the thanks of the Board are hereby tendered to 
His Excellency, Grovei'noi- Fumtox, for his recent vetoes of various 
bills passed by the Legislature of this State iiifrinp'ing upon the 
riglits and franchises of this city and county, and we sincerely con- 
gratulate the people of the State of New York in having an Execu- 
tive wlio possesses the vigilance and teai'lessness necessary to correct 
the errors of hasty and imperfect legislation. 

Gov. Fexton's State papers are always compact, cogent 
and convincing. His vigor of style and strength of diction 
are admirably illustrated in a letter to the committee that 
invited him to a meeting held at Cooper Institute, in New 
York city, in the fall of 1860, for the purpose of ratifying 
the action of the State Union Convention : 

State of New York, Exkcutive Department, ) 
Albany, October 13, 1866. \ 

Gentlemen: I cannot attend the meeting at Cooper Institute on 
the 15tli inst., to wliich you invite me; my public duties at the 
capital will prevent. 

The questions now agitating the public mind are of the greatest 
moment and interest; and they are sucli as could not be pi-esented 
to any other people. It will not be forgotten that the gigantic war 



BEUBEX E. FENTON. 13 

througli which we liave just passed was prosecuted on behalf of the 
government in defense of the supremacy of the ballot. Tlie clearly 
expressed will of the nation is the supreme law of the land. 
Against an expression of this will, men honored by large communi- 
ties with public trusts which they were ready to betray for purposes 
of guilty ambition, stimulated their States to revolt, and by crafty 
and dangerous devices, inflamed the passions of their people, until 
in a spirit of franlic and blind delusion they fired upon their own 
flag, and enveloped the whole land ii. the flame of war. The com- 
mon traditions; the national pride; the sacred oath of fealty; these 
were all forgotten, scouted, or ignored, and under the ill-starred 
banner of i-ebellion, organized armies marched to crush out the 
grand heritage of American freedom, and to reverse by force of 
arms the constitutional expression of the popular will. Patriotic 
men sprang from the various walks of labor and industry, from the 
schools and colleges, the fields and the workshops; fortunes were 
thrown into the scale; fireside circles were broken, and every house- 
hold was made familiar with the perils of mutilation, captivity and 
death, in that common spirit of loyalty and devotion which prompted 
the fixed resolve, from the hour that Sumter fell, that the Union 
our fathers had established should stand, and that the rights and 
liberties of a fiee people, secured by covenant, should be maintained 
in blood. These patriot forces trampled out the fires of rebellion ; 
the principle of popular government was vindicated; and the 
leaders and armies of the conspirators surrendered, as prisoners of 
Avar, the weapons with which they sought the destruction of their 
country. 

To the representatives of these communities who thus organized 
to destroy our liberties, we are urged to commit, at once and without 
guaranties, the authority to legislate for us; to award justice to the 
soldiers and sailors by whom they were subdued; to determine 
whether the public debt shall be paid; and to claim undue prepon- 
derance of representation in the national councils, and a dispropor- 
tionate vote in the electoral college, as a reward for a defeated and 
treasonable attempt to subvert the government. 

Places are now claimed in the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives for men who foreswore their allegiance to the Constitution, 
and held office under the usurpation of Davis, and his associate cou- 



14 WFE SKETCHES. 

spirators. Such an assumption is against the common sense of tlie 
country. It is pU\in that on the dissolution of the rebel armies 
there was no lawful local government in any of the insurgent States ; 
nor was there any power in the people of those States to regain the 
status they lost by organized rebellion. The State action which 
they now invoke to excuse individuals from the penalties of personal 
crime, disabled them as communities from resuming, without the 
consent of the people on whom they made war, a participation in 
governing them, by claiming the place abdicated for the purposes 
of treason. Their right of representation as States being thus prac- 
tically suspended by their own act, what power is competent to 
reinstate them in their former relations to the government? 
Evidently it is not in the States themselves, independent of Con- 
gressional sanction or recognition. There is no lawful local execu- 
tive to call an election, and no lawful local government under which 
such an election can be made. The Federal government is to 
determine what shall be the terms of restoration. It is a question 
for the sovereign power, and with us the sovereign is not the 
President, but the people. Under the Constitution, the will of the 
people is to be expressed through its representatives in Congress 
assembled. Tlie simple duty of the Pi-esident is to execute their 
will, thus expressed. By interposing his veto, he may compel them 
to express it by a two-thirds vote ; but it is the will of the people, 
and not his will which is expressed; and it is not by his vote, but 
by the vote of Congress, that it has the force of a popular law. 

With unerring judgment and forecast, the martyred Lincoln 
appreciated the question in its true aspect ; and in commissioning 
loyal men, with the simple powers of military governors, he provided 
for the present peace; while he recognized in the people in Congress 
assembled the only competent authority to restore permanent civil 
government in the insurgent States, under the Constitution they 
had foresworn, and to determine the conditions under which they 
should be restored to their practical relations in the Union. Such 
is the common judgment of the loyal States. Such is the clear con- 
viction and the firm demand of the mass of loyal men North and 
South. It is a question which belongs to the people, and not to the 
President — to the law-making power, and not to the agent, whose 
duty it, is to enforce the laws and to obey them. 



BEtfBEX E. FENTON. 15 

But it is claimed that the adoiition of tlie amendineats proposed 
by Congress ought not to be made a condition of representation ; 
that however just in themselves, no constitutional safeguard should 
be provided which has not been passed upon in Congress by the 
insurgent States. The weakness of this position is too obvious to 
deceive any but those who advance it. The President is, doubtless, 
competent to proclaim the cessation of hostilities and the return of 
peace; but Congress alone can guarantee a Republican form of gov- 
ernment to States which have subverted their own governments 
established under the Constitution. 

In the discharge of a high public trust, the present Congress has 
patiently and laboriously investigated the condition of that portion 
of the country convulsed by the recent rebellion; and, in a com- 
mendable spirit of moderation, it has proposed for adoption, an 
amendment to the Constitution, so reasonable and appropriate to 
the existing state of affairs, that its propriety and justice are admit- 
ted even by those who oppose its adoption. The plan of adjustment 
thus presented, is the only one before the people. It has the sanc- 
tion of an overwhelming majority in the Senate and House of 
Representatives ; it has been heartily and earnestly indorsed by the 
people of every State in which a general election has since been 
held ; it will receive the unanimous approval of all the States, 
whose unwavering loyalty bore us triumphantly through the war; 
it is a noble and magnanimous peace-offering tendered by Congress, 
in behalf of the people, to the misguided States which permitted 
themselves to be precipitated into rebellion by bold and reckless 
leaders, some of whom are now demanding instant and uncondi- 
tional admission to seats in the governing council of the nation. 
Very respectfully, 

R. E. FENTON, 

To Messrs. F. A. Conkling, Francis A. Thomas, Owen W. Brenna>?, 
John Fitch, Charles A. Dana, Committee. 

His views upon the pending issues, were afterward ably 
maintained in a speech delivered at a large political 
gathering in Jamestown, just prior to the election of 186C. 
An unerring test of the correctness of his opinions, and 
the wisdom of his administration, is furnished in the fact 



16 LIFE SKETCHES. 

that, daring the late canvass, his opponents were utterly 
unable to assail his official record, Avhile his friends effect- 
ively employed the same in his behalf. 

The Republican party in 1866 saw the necessity of 
selecting Avise men for its nominees. The more discerning 
politicians felt that there was reason to fear an unfavorable 
result of the canvass. Herculean efforts were being made 
to defeat the party at the polls, A division had been 
created among those who had theretofore professed its 
principles. A number of influential gentlemen openly 
repudiated its ideas in regard to reconstruction. The 
Philadelphia Convention had produced a schism, which it 
was feared might j^rove formidable, if not disastrous. 
Those who were the most pronounced in favor of the policy 
of President JoHXSox, were the most earnest in their 
opposition to Governor Fexton. The questions naturally 
arose whether this marked hostility might not prove fatal 
to success, by stimulating the Conservatives to greater 
effort, and enabling them to exert more powerful influence 
over the moderate and doubtful portion of the party ; and 
whether a man less likely to be thus assailed miglit not be 
stronger. On the other hand, there was to be considered 
the effect which the leading measures of his administration 
had produced on the popular mind. His National policy 
had contributed in a marked degree to the success of the 
■war. He had entered upon his term of office as successor 
to one who disapproved of many of the principal features 
of the war policy of the Government, and Avho had been 
elected because of his decided views in relation thereto. 
He had stimulated volunteering, and secured for the State 
a more just recognition of its rights ; had worked clear 
from the complications in which ^^ublic interest had been 
involved by the blundering and incompetency of the Pro- 
vost Marshal General ; and had relieved New York from 
a large portion of the dreaded burden of the draft. He 



KEUBEN E. FENTOlSr. 17 

had done much, witli the co-operation of the head of the 
State finance department, to originate a financial system 
which rendered the credit of the State stable and secure, 
and furnished the means to suj)ply the demands of war, 
without being felt as oppressive. By his keen ajjpreciation 
of the wants of the soldiers, his tender solicitude for tlieir 
welfare, and his earnest efforts in their behalf, he had firmly 
attached them to himself In his State policy, he liad sought 
to foster all the material interests of the commonwealth ; 
and had reluctantly interposed to the defeat of needed 
enterprises when their aid would render the burden of 
taxation onerous, and awaited a more favorable opjiortu- 
nity to join in giving them that aid. lie was vigilant in 
his attention to the commercial wants of the State, both in 
the great metropolis and through its internal lines of transit. 
This unwavering devotion to the essential prosperity of the 
State, elicited confidence and commendation. All the dis- 
criminating judgment and forecast of the Statesman had 
been displayed in a marked degree. These views were 
impressed on the minds of the representative men of- his 
party, and when the Convention assembled, so strongly did 
they prevail, and so heavily did they outweigh adverse 
considerations, that no other name was suggested, and he 
was unanimously nominated by acclamation. The Demo- 
crats entered upon the canvass full of liope. Prominent 
places were given by them on their State ticket, to Repub- 
licans who dissented from the principles enunciated by the 
Republican party, and nominations of a like character ^vere 
made for many local ofiices in various portions of the State. 
The result showed that Governor Fenton's strength liad 
not been miscalculated. He was re-elected by a majority 
five thousand larger than that given him in his first canvass. 
The year 1867 furnished the occasion for a continuation 
of a policy which had proved so acceptable, and it is not 
necessary that we should dwell upon its features. 
3 



18 LIFE SKETCHES. 

The absence of nil malevolence in the heart of Governor 
Fenton, and the broad charity of his nature, were dis- 
played during the past year. The remains of the Rebel 
dead had been left unburied at Antietam. A letter from 
Governor FENTOisr, breathing the spirit of loyalty and 
humanity, decided the committee at once to an act both 
eliristian and proper, and in accordance with the spirit of 
the law of jNIaryland, which authorized the purchase of a 
cemetery, and created a corporation to carry out the 
declared object of burying in it, all who fell on either side 
during the invasion of Lee at the battle of Antietam. In 
that letter he took the high ground that it " Avas a war 
less of sections than of systems," and that the N"ation 
could confer decent burial on the Southern dead while 
condemning and sternly opposing the heresies for which 
they had sacrificed themselves; and that attachment to the 
Union and devotion to the most thorough measures for its 
preservation and restoration were not inconsistent with 
the broadest charity, and the observance of sacred obliga- 
tions to the dead. Tliis letter accomplished the intended 
purpose ; and the bones of the Rebel soldiers who fell on 
that memorable field, will be interred as befitting not only 
a legal obligation, but the highest demands of civilization 
and our common humanity. 

In his message to the Legislature of 1868, Governor 
Fenton forcibly expressed himself in favor of materially 
reducing the number of items in the tax lists, and of a 
re-adjustment of the assessment laws — now so glaringly 
unequal — in order that every source of wealth might bear 
its just proportion of burden. He also took strong ground 
in defense of the inviolate maintenance of the National 
faith. In his usual terse and vigorous style, he argued 
against the leg.ality of the Governments instituted by 
President Joiinsox, after the cessation of active hostilities, 
and held that the reconstruction acts of Congress were 



REUBEX E. FEXTOX. 10 

necessary because the Southern States had rejected, Avith 
scorn, tlie peace oftering of the Constitutional Amend- 
ment. He eloquently expressed himself in behalf of the 
rights of the Freedmen, in consideration of his manhood 
and loyalty, to protection through law, and to the elective 
franchise. 

Governor Fextox realizes that the peoi^le have made 
him their Chief Magistrate, and that they look to him, and 
to no other person, for tlie faithful discharge of the duties 
of the responsible position. lie is controlled by no clique 
— he is the agent of no cabal. He patiently listens to all 
who desire to consult him, and then follows the dictates of 
his own good judgment. He has no prejudice so strong, 
nor partiality so great, as to lead him to do an unjust act. 
He is a careful thinker and a hard worker. No man 
ever labored more hours in tlie Executive Chamber than 
he does. Whatever work engages his attention, he attends 
to it personally, even to the minutest details. 

Governor Fentox is a decided radical, and yet he can- 
not be called an extreme man. There is just enough 
conservatism in his composition to save him from doing 
an unwise or rash act. His mind is thorougldy practical. 
He is a man of decided convictions and fearless in their 
expression, and yet his manner of address and style ol 
composition are so gentle and courteous as to almost dis- 
arm opposition. There are few men whose minds are so 
well balanced as his. 

A more upright man does not exist. Make it clear to 
him that a thing ought to be done, and he will do it, 
no matter who may advise difterently. He has trod on 
great schemes and powerful lobbies in this State. He has 
defended public interest against the rapacity of organized 
theft. He has escaped tlie cliarge of connivance with any 
of these organized rings. He has won the grateful regard 
of the Republicans of the State. He has not always 



20 Lli'E SKETCHES. 

satisfied place-seekers, but, in the administration of public 
affairs, the man is yet to be found who charges him with 
dishonesty or unfaithfulness. 

That the feelings of youth survive in his manhood, and 
that he cherishes a warm sympathy for childliood, is very 
pleasantly shown in a letter acknowledging a testimonial 
of membership to the American Sunday School Union, 
presented by the scholars of a Sabbath School. In his 
reply to the Superintendent he says : 

" Thank the boys for me and tell them I shall place the gift in my 
study, that I may never forget in the performance of the grave duties 
to which I am called, that little children are taking note of what I do, 
sure that if my conduct can be held up in comnieudation to those 
of whom Christ says : ' Of such is the kingdom of Heaven,' it wil] 
reach the highest standard of earthly merit." 

New York, with entire unanimity, presents the name of 
Reuben E. Fenton to the Republican National Conven- 
tion at Chicago, for nomination to the office of Vice-Presi- 
dent. She urges him as combining in unequaled measure 
the qualifications of the candidate and the qualifications 
of the officer — the popularity which assures success in the 
canvass, the ability which makes him equal to the office, 
and the fidelity which guarantees the maintenance of prin- 
ciple. For years tlie people have watched his public 
career with constantly increasing confidence and satisfac- 
tion. At the National Capitol he was firm, vigilant and 
prudent. At the State Capitol he has been a trusty and 
sagacious leader, always the watchful guardian of the 
people's interest, and always the defender of poptilar 
lights. He is strong with the masses of his party. He is 
like Lincoln- in this regard; and like him, is a man groAvn 
from the people. He has risen to office by no tricks. He 
commands the esteem of his fellow-citizens, of whatever 
party. He is worthy to preside over the highest branch of 
Congress, and in that capacity he would prove a sagacious 



KEUBEN E. FENTOX. 21 

counselor. And, it" that fell calamity should happen, Avhich 
the sad experience of the country lias taught us to contem- 
plate as not impossible, his record and his character give 
the perfect assurance tliat, witli Governor Fenton in the 
Presidential chair, the interests of the Nation would suffer 
no detriment, and the will of the people would not be 
paralyzed. 

The Tlepublican State Convention held at Syracuse, 
February 5, 1868, composed of three hundred and eighty- 
four delegates, unanimously adopted the following resolu- 
tion : 

Resolved, That Reuben E. Fentox is the first choice of the Union 
Republican party in this State for the office of Vice-President. His 
early and consistent identification with the cause of hmnan freedom, 
his patriotic services in Congress, the fidelity and sagacity he has 
displayed in the office of Chief Magistrate of the State, his earnest 
and uniform devotion to the wants and interests of soldiers, his 
popularity as attested by being twice elected Governor over strong 
antagonists, as well as his great prudence and firmness, give assiu*- 
ance that his nomination would inspire universal confidence and 
enthusiasm, and be followed by the triumphant success of the whole 
ticket. 

More brilliant men may have occupied the executive 
chair in our State than Governor Fenton-, but it has been 
filled by no more sagacious statesman, and by no more 
conscientious man, and such will be the verdict of those 
who shall impartially write a history of the times wherein 
we live. 



STEWART L. WOODFORD, 

LIEUTEXANT-GOYEEXOK. 

LiEUTEXAXT-GovERxoR WooDFORD is a iiative of the 
metropolis of New York, where he was born September 
3d, 1835. 

His father, Josiaii C. Woodford, was from Hartford 
county, Connecticut ; liis mother, Susan Terry, from Suf- 
folk county. Long Island, in this State. 

He was a boy of good promise, whose success in life was 
foreshadowed by his industry and tenacity of purpose as 
a lad. Before he was fifteen years of age, he entered 
the Freshman Class of Columbia College, from Avhich he 
graduated with high honors in 1854, being assigned the 
English salutatory address. He then turned his attention 
to the study of law, in the office of Brown, Hall & Van- 
DERPOEL, at NcAV York, and was admitted to tlie bar in 
February, 1857. 

As a lawyer, Mr. Woodford was popular and successful, 
and almost immediately took a prominent place among 
the younger members of his profession. 

In the year 1860, he was a delegate to the convention 
at Chicago, which nominated Abraha:\[ Lincoln for the 
presidency. On his return, he entered into the canvass 
with great sjjirit, and worked unceasingly for the Repub- 
lican cause. Plis eloquence was heard from the rostrum, 
and his energies were felt in private councils in behalf of 
the great interests which he was willing subsequently to 
defend in the field. It was his privilege, after that memo- 
rable canvass, to convey the vote of the Electoral College 
of New York, to Washington. Closely following the 



STEWART L. "WOODFORD. 23 

honor thus conferred upon him, was his election as Chair- 
man of the Young Men's Republican Committee, of the 
City of New York. 

In April, 18G1, Mr. Woodford was appointed Assistant 
United States Attorney, for the Southern District of New 
York. This was an office of importance, requiring a high 
order of abilities for the proper discharge of its weighty 
duties ; and Mr. Woodford filled it in an unexception- 
able manner. After the breaking out of the rebellion, 
the blockade of the Southern ports rendered necessary the 
creation of a bureau in tliat office, for the legal prosecu- 
tion of the vast number of naval captures made by the 
government. This bureau was placed in charge of Mr. 
Woodford, whose industry, aided by natural talent and 
keen discrimination, enabled him to successfully present to 
the court the intricate questions arising for adjudication. 
He made the opening argument for the Government, in 
the case of the bar(pie Hiawatha, which Avas the first of 
the seizures under the blockade. The line of Mr. Wood- 
ford's argument was identical with that followed by the 
Supreme Court of the United States in its final decision 
upon the question. 

In 1862, after the gloomy retreat of McClellan across 
the Peninsula, a general feeling of the necessity of renewed 
action and sacrifice, pervaded the hearts of the people. 
Mr. Woodford hastened to obey the common impulse, 
resigned his lucrative office, and enlisted for the war as a 
private. He was immediately elected captain of his com- 
pany, whicli was assigned to the 127th regiment New 
York Volunteers, under Col. William Gurnet, Before 
leaving for the front, lie was again promoted to a Lieu- 
tenant-Colonelcy. About this time, he removed his resi- 
dence to Brooklyn. The winter of 1862-3 was spent by 
his regiment in and around Washington, whicli was then 



24 LIFE SKETCHES. 

threatened by the rebel forces ; but tlie life of comparative 
inaction was interrupted by the siege of Suffolk, Va., by 
General Longstreet. Colonel Woodfokd's command 
was sent to Suffolk, and subsequently to the Peninsula, 
under General Dix. He afterward served in the 11th 
Corps, in the Army of the Potomac, and was then trans- 
ferred to the Department of the South, wliere he won for 
himself distinguished military honors. 

When General Gilmoee began his extensive operations 
against Charleston, Colonel Woodford, w^ith his regiment, 
took a prominent part in them. In the spring of 1864, he 
commanded the several forts on Morris Island, which 
shelled the city of Charleston so destructively. During 
the Summer of that year, he acted as Judge-Advocate 
General of the Department of the South, and, in the early 
autumn was intrusted with the supervision of the exchange 
of prisoners at Charleston harbor. But staff duty was not 
congenial to his taste, and as Sherman neared the coast, 
he applied for leave to rejoin his regiment, and participate 
in the operations undertaken by General Foster, against 
the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. These operations 
were for the purpose of creating a diversion in Sherman's 
favor, and preventing Savannah being reinforced from 
Charleston and Richmond. His request was granted, and 
he was actively engaged in the movements which followed. 

At the battles of Honey Hill, Coosawhatchie and Tula- 
finny, his bravery was conspicuous, and received marked 
commendation from his superiors. At Honey Hill his 
shoulder strap was shot off, and he was slightly wounded 
in the face. At Coosawhatchie he personally led the 
charge which made our forces masters of the field. At 
Tulafinny he commanded an advance Brigade, and for his 
services here was subsequently promoted to a full 
Colonelcy, and breveted Brigadier-General. 



STEWART L. WOODFORD. 25 

Just before the surrender of Lee, and after active move- 
ments had ceased on the coast, Colonel Woodford was 
temporarily appointed Provost Marshal-General of the 
Southern Department ; and, a short time after, was made 
the first military Governor of Charleston. It was in this 
city that the rebellion was conceived and born. The 
populace, at the time of the breaking up of the gigantic 
cabal, were filled with hatred and disloyalty. The aristo- 
cratic Southrons illy submitted to the dictation of a North- 
ern man. Disloyal citizens on the one hand, and rebel 
deserters and desperadoes on the other, smouldering build- 
ings, half famished and homeless families, the absence of civil 
law and a chaotic state of society, all conspired to bring 
into play the highest order of administrative capabilities. 

Under the authority of Colonel Woodford, these vol- 
canic elements were harmonized, much to the delight of 
those who had sufiered by the reign of terror. By his 
courteous but iron firmness, he soon convinced even the 
disloyal that the best course for them was to submit 
quietly to the authority of the Military Governor, who 
had been placed over them by an outraged but vindicated 
govei'nment. Order was restored so perfectly at last, that 
ten thousand colored people, in the celebration of the 
Emancipation Proclamation, and weeks before the surren- 
der of Lee, marched triumphantly through the principal 
streets of the city, with the flag of the Republic floating 
over them, with banners inscribed with mottoes com- 
memorative of the termination of their bondage, and 
bearing a coffin emblematic of the death and burial of 
slavery. It is not to be supposed that the citizens relished 
this demonstration, but the cool decision of Governor 
Woodford awed them into a state of outward submission ; 
and they well knew, that any molestation would have 
drawn upon themselves summary punishment. 
4 



26 LIFE SKETCHES. 

For the remarkable administrative abilities displayed at 
this important juncture, he was made Chief of Staff, by 
Major-General Gilmore, "While the city of Charleston 
was under Colonel Woodford's command, order prevailed 
on all sides ; the loyalist felt safe in the enjoyment of his 
privileges, and the secessionist was forced to admit that 
the colonel manifested tenacity of purpose to administer 
justice to all. It was while acting in this capacity that 
he was commissioned Brigadier-General by brevet, for 
previous meritorious services. 

Subsequently, he succeeded the gallant General Grover 
in command of the city and district of Savannah, having 
been assigned to duty by the President, in accordance 
with his brevet rank. His administration in that city was 
also a complete success. 

Among the distinguishing acts of his course, Avas the 
px-actical assistance which he gave to the negroes in found- 
ing their schools and churches. On every hand he saw 
hundreds of colored people eager to be taught. They 
were a distinct and peculiar race that had been shut out 
from educational advantages for many generations; and 
he determined that every possible avenue should now be 
opened to them. How successfully he accomplished his 
purpose, the gratitude of the negroes testified. He pro- 
vided an equal number of schools for the black and white 
children of the city ; re-established the police force ; lighted 
the streets with gas for the first time in three years, and 
demonstrated that he was not only bravely just to the 
blacks, but wise and energetic in his management of all 
the civil affairs of the important city that had been con- 
fided to his control. He created a revenue which not only 
defrayed all the expenses of the local government, but 
also left a good balance to his successor, in the military 
treasury of the city. 



STEWART L. WOODFORD. 27 

General Woodford subsequently reassumecl the position 
of Chief of Staff to the Department Commander ; and in 
August, 1865, resigned his commission, and returning to 
his home in Brooklyn, resumed the practice of the law. 

In October of the same year, he was unanimously nomi- 
nated by the Republican party in New York city as their 
candidate for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas ; but 
he decided not to change his residence from Brooklyn (to 
which city he had moved his family soon after he entered 
the army), and declined the nomination. 

In the Autumn of 1866, and after a canvass in which he 
visited nearly every county in the State, General Wood- 
ford was elected Lieutenant-Governor of New York by the 
Union Republican Party, receiving a majority of 15,024 
votes. The Democratic Party were confident of the success 
of their candidate, Mr. Pruyn, but the ballot of the people 
gave a sweeping verdict in favor of General Woodford. 

The Lieutenant-Governor combines with an agreeable 
appearance and pleasing address, the graces and polish of 
a gentleman. He is a cultivated scholar, and a close and 
logical lawyer. His eloquence is of the highest order, and 
his presence before an audience is strangely magnetic, as 
thousands can testify who have ever heard him from the 
political rostrum and in the court room. 

As a presiding officer he has been remarkably success- 
ful. Courteous but decided in his ruling, his clear, ringing 
voice is as effective to preserve order in the Senate Cham- 
ber as it was to lead his men in the charge. In the selec- 
tion of his committees for the new Senate of 1868 he 
displayed a far-sighted wisdom that was applauded by the 
press and the people of the entire State, and his address of 
welcome to the Senators was a masterpiece of quiet, but 
effective oratory. We introduce it here as a fair specimen 
of General Woodford's manner and style : 



28 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Senators : It becomes my pleasant duty at the opening of our 
session to bid you welcome. We stand on the threshold of events 
upon which the welfare alike of our State and Nation largely 
depends. Although the harvests of last autumn were abundant ; 
although no pestilence has visited our land, and no organized armed 
resistance to law exists within our borders, still we must all realize 
that general anxiety and distrust pervades commercial circles, 
paralyzing business activity and industrial enterprises ; and that all 
our people await the future with solicitude. It is your privilege as 
well as your duty to do much towards allaying this alarm. You 
can labor for the restoration of an absolute and actual economy in 
public expenditures ; an economy which shall be seen in the next 
tax levy, and thus be appreciated by the people. You can largely 
insist on a rigid accountability of all public servants. You can 
arrest hasty legislation, prevent the enactment of needless and 
cumbersome laws, initiate wise and considerate reforms, and reso- 
lutely maintain the existing safeguard of public order and personal 
security. I know that these are threadbare axioms, and seem but 
idle platitudes ; and, yet, unless we make them actual verities in 
our ofi&cial action, we shall not only fail in our duty, but the State 
will suffer harm. Not only are our people apprehensive in regard 
to our State interest and legislation ; but there is much in our 
national affairs to awaken patriotic solicitude. Partial disorder and 
an unnatural, deplorable, but still necessary subordination of the 
civil to the military law, prevail in States lately in rebellion. The 
restoration of those States to their just and constitutional relations 
with the Federal Government, and to their normal condition of 
self-rule, is delayed by an unfortunate collision between the Presi- 
dent and Congress. As Senators of New York, you may not be 
called upon to act directly upon these questions, and yet, should 
circumstances arise requiring action, we may remember that the 
voice and influence of this State is always powerful in the councils 
of our nation. 

. Lieutenant-Governor Woodford is the youngest man 
that has ever been President of the Senate of New York, 
being now but thirty-three years of age. 



HOMER A. NELSON, 

SECRETARY OF STATE. 

Homer A. Nelson was born in Poughkeepsie on the 
31st day of August, 1829. He acquired his education at 
the District Schools and at the Dutchess County Academy. 
When not quite sixteen years of age he entered the law 
office of Messrs. Tallmak and Dean, in his native village, 
as clerk and student ; and in that capacity he afterwards 
pursued his legal studies in the office of the Hon. Charles 
H. RuGGLES, Vice-Chancellor and Circuit Judge of the 
Second District of New York, and subsequently in the 
office of Messrs. Varick and Eldridge. 

He was duly admitted to practice as an attorney and 
Counsellor-at-law in all the courts of the State of New 
York, after due examination before the General Term of 
the Supreme Court of the Second Judicial District, on the 
Vth day of October, 1850; and in December following, 
opened an office at Poughkeepsie and commenced the prac- 
tice of his profession. 

His fine legal mind and attainments, and his indefatigable 
industry and perseverance, soon gained for him prominence 
at the bar of his native county, a county which has ever 
been noted for the high character, learning and ability of 
its lawyers. In 1854, enjoying a practice and a degree 
of success in his profession rarely so early attained, he 
entered into a co-partnership with his former preceptor, 
the Hon. Gilbert Dean, which continued until the 
appointment of Mr. Dean as Justice of the Supreme 
Court. 



30 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Politically, he has always been an active member of the 
Democratic party. In 1855, he was, by a large majority, 
elected County Judge of Dutchess county, and discharged 
the duties of that position with such marked ability, and 
so acceptably to the bar and the public, that, on the expi- 
ration of his first term in 1859, he received a unanimous 
re-nomination by the Democratic party, and was re-elected 
by a large majority, notwithstanding all the other candi- 
dates upon the Democratic ticket were defeated by major- 
ities ranging above nine hundred. While performing the 
duties of County Judge, he was also engaged in a large 
and successful practice in the higher courts of the State. 
In 1857, Rutger's College, of New Jersey, conferred upon 
him the honorary degree of Master of Arts. In February, 
1859, on motion of Hon, Thomas Ewing, of Ohio, he 
was admitted as Attorney and Counsellor of the United 
States Suj^reme Coui-t. 

At the breaking out of the rebellion in 1861, he at once 
took a decided stand in favor of its suppression by the 
Government, and was active and strenuous in his advocacy 
of a vigorous prosecution of the war, addressing numerous 
public meetings held in Poughkeepsie and throughout 
Dutchess county, on that subject, maintaining that it was 
the duty of the peoj)le, and especially of the Democratic 
party, to insist on the perpetuity of the Union, and to 
resist separation to the xitmost power of the Government. 
In 1862 Judge Nelson was recommended by the War 
Committee of Dutchess and Columbia counties, to Gov- 
ernor MoRGAK, for appointment as Colonel of the 167th 
Regiment N". Y. Volunteers, then about to be raised. In 
accordance with this recommendation he was duly com- 
missioned to raise such regiment, and with characteristic 
energy at once pi'oceeded to the performance of that duty, 
establishing his head-quarters at Hudson. Besides con- 



HOMER A. NELSON. 31 

tributing liberally of his means, he devoted his entire 
time to the patriotic work, and with untiring zeal can- 
vassed the whole district %r the accomplishment of it. 
When about six hundred volunteers had been raised, his 
regiment was consolidated with the 159th, by which num- 
ber it Avas mustered into the United States service, and 
Judge Nelsox was commissioned as its Colonel. 

In November, 1862, he was elected by the Democratic 
party, representative in Congress from the 12th Congres- 
sional District of New York, running handsomely ahead 
of the State ticket in his district. At the earnest solicita- 
tion of his friends, who believed that his services would 
be of more value at that crisis in the halls of legislation 
than in the field, he was induced to resign his commission 
as Colonel, in order that he might take his seat in the 
House of Representatives, which he did in December, 
1863. He also resigned the position of County Judge, 
which he then held. In Congress, he served on the Com- 
mittee on Indian AiFairs and the Committee on Unfinished 
Business. 

During his entire Congressional term he warmly advo- 
cated and supported all measures for the vigorous prosecu- 
tion of the war for the suppression of the rebellion. 
Shortly after the opening of the Second Session of the 
38th Congress, he ojDcnly announced his intention to vote 
in favor of the adoption of the Constitutional Amendment 
for the abolition of Slavery. The adoption of this great 
measure, which gave liberty to millions, without undue 
assumption, may be considered entirely due to the vote 
and personal efibrts of Mr. Nelson. The Republican 
party was united and earnest in its support, and the Dem- 
ocratic party presented an almost unbroken front in 
opposition ; but Mr. Nelson, with a wise foresight, just 
appreciation, and commendable independence, resolutely 



32 LIFE SKETCHES. 

refused to act with his party, and by his personal influence 
induced others to unite with him in giving the measure 
thei;- support; and had it not'.fceen for the vital aid thus 
rendei-rd, the requisite vote would not have been obtained. 

In the Fall of 1865 Judge Nelson was unanimously 
re-nominated for Congress, but the District having become 
overwhelmingly Republican, he failed of re-election. 

At the close of his term in Congress, Judge Nelson 
returned to the practice of his profession in his native 
place, (declining an important appointment tendered him 
by the administration of President Lincoln) and by unre- 
mitting attention and devotion to it, attained the acknowl- 
edged leadership of the Bar of Dutchess County, as a glance 
at the court calendar of that county at once shows. 

Prior to the election of Delegates to the State Constitu- 
tional Convention in the Spring of 1867, Judge Nelson's 
name was prominently canvassed before the people, and 
he was nominated as one of the Delegates at Large by the 
Democratic State Convention. 

In that body he served upon one of its most impor- 
tant committees — Finance — and in the discussion of the 
gi-eat questions coming before it he took a conspicu- 
ous part, bringing to the consideration of the important 
subjects submitted to it, an ability and attainments which 
placed him in the front rank of its distinguished members. 

Without any previous canvass on his jjart, but solely on 
his merits and owing to his popularity as a representative 
man of the young Democracy, he was, at the Democratic 
State Convention in September, 1867, nominated on the 
first ballot for Secretary of State. 

The verdict of the State Convention was ratified by the 
people on the 5th day of November, 1867 — Judge Nelson 
handsomely leading the State ticket and receiving 373,029 



HOMER A. NELSON. 33 

votes, the highest number ever cast for any individual in 
the Empire State. 

Affable and pleasing in his address, unpretentious and 
unostentatious in his demeanor, yet with a quiet dignity 
and force of character that never fail to win him the place 
his merits claim. Judge Nelson is generally and deserv- 
edly popular. The important trusts which have been 
committed to his charge, and the eminent position which 
he now occupies so eai-ly in life, furnish another instance 
of the successful self-made man which is the glory of our 
republican institutions. 



WILLIAM F. ALLEN, 

COJIPTROLLER. 

The present Comptroller, Judge "William F. Allen-, 
was born in Windham county, Connecticut. In 1816, he 
came with his father and family to reside in Duanesburgh, 
Schenectady county, in this State, where he passed his 
younger years. His preparatory studies for college were 
mostly pursued under private tutors, and he entered 
Union College two years in advance, in 1825, and gradu- 
ated two years later, standing high in the honors of his class. 

After graduating, he entered the office, as a student of 
law, of the late Comptroller, the Hon. John C. Wright, 
of Schenectady, where he spent some time, but finally 
finished his clerkship in the office of the late Charles M. 
Lee, of Rochester, one of the most prominent and able 
lawyers of Western New York, and was admitted to 
practice in 1829. 

Mr. Allen went to Oswego to practice his profession in 
1830, at first entering into partnership with the late Geo. 
Fisher, who was then contesting a seat in the House 
of Representatives. Soon after Mr. Allen entered into a 
law partnership with Hon. A. P. Grant, then and still 
of Oswego ; and up to the time when he was elected a 
Justice of the Supreme Court, and of course had to sui- 
render his legal practice, the firm of Grant & Allen was 
known as one of the most enterprising, able and successful 
law firms in northern New York. 

Mr. Allen's success in his profession, together with his 
sociable and amiable qualities, made him very popular with 
his party and the public, and he was early looked upon as 
a very promising young man. Any office within the gift 



AYILLIAM F. ALLEX, 35 

of those by whom he was surrounded, might have been his 
on his acceptance, but he steadily refused all places, how- 
ever honorable, calculated to lure him from the pursuit of 
his profession, or which might be an obstacle to his eleva- 
tion therein. Under the Constitution of 1 82 1 , he was, early 
in his professional career, appointed to the offices of Master 
and Examiner in Chancery. In 1842, he accepted the 
Democratic nomination for Member of Assembly, and was 
elected. He was awarded the important position of Chair- 
man of Committee of Ways and Means in 1843, a rare 
compliment to a new member in a body composed of very 
able men. In 1844, he was re-elected .and made Chairman 
of the Judiciary Committee, a position which his legal 
acquirements enabled him to fill with great credit. 

Something of the rank Mr. Allen held during his brief 
career as a legislator may be estimated from the position he 
was awarded in an Assembly in which seats were held by 
such men as Michael HoFFMAisr, Samuel YoujS^g, Claek 
B. Cochrane, Horatio Seymour, Thos. G. Alvord and 
Calvin T. Hulburd, names then and since prominent 
among the most distinguished men of New York. 

In 1845 Mr. Allen w\as appointed by President Polk 
United States District Attorney for the Northern District 
of the State of New York, the duties of which position he 
continued to discharge until after the adoption of the State 
Constitution of 1846, when he was elected, for a term of 
eight years, one of the first Justices of the Supreme Court 
for the Fifth Judicial District of the State, his associates 
upon the bench being Hon. Charles Gray, of Herkimer ; 
Hon. Daniel Pratt, of Syracuse, and Hon. Philo Grid- 
ley, of Utica. 

It is as a Judge that Mr. Allen is best known, and upon 
the Bench that he has won the most honorable distinction. 
It was with much hesitation that the members of the Con- 



36 LIFE SKETCHES. 

vention of 1846 created an elective judiciary, but the 
wisdom of that i:)rovision was fully vindicated in the eleva- 
tion of such men as Judge Allen to the Bench. His 
impartial administration, searching investigations, and 
convincing decisions, established him to such a remarkable 
degree in public estimation, that, at the expiration of his 
first term of eight years, he was, regardless of political 
considerations, unanimously recommended by the Bar of 
his District for re-election, and his political opponents, 
in a district where they had the majority, paid him the 
extraordinary compliment of a unanimous election. As 
the first had been, so was the second term of Judge Allen, 
eight years of successful labor. During the last year of 
each term he, by provision of the Constitution, occupied 
a seat in the Court of Appeals. There, as elsewhere, he 
was distinguished for his legal acumen, his discrimination, 
learning and ability. For sixteen years he was generally 
acknowledged to be among the ablest, most successful and 
popular jurists of the State. 

On retiring from the Bench, Judge Allen went to New 
York city, where he resumed the labors of his profession. 
His reputation immediately gave him all the practice that 
it was possible for him to attend to, and he was entrusted 
with the management of the most important causes. 

Judge Allen's popularity in his own district, and his 
standing in his party in the State, have made him a marked 
man. Often has his party made attempts to lure him 
from his profession. At one time his party in his own 
Congressional district nominated him for Congress, but he 
promptly and peremptorily declined. Quite frequently 
has his name been prominently suggested for the exalted 
position of Governor of the State. 

In 1864, he was appointed by the Secretary of War one 
of a commission to adjust the matter of credits for recruits 



WILLIAM F. ALLEN. 37 

due to this State, a matter which had become involved in 
seemingly inextricable confusion. His associates in this 
commission were Hon. Chauxcey Smith of Massachusetts, 
and Hon. Johx Love of Indiana. The duty was discharged 
in a manner which called expressions of thanks and grati- 
tude from all classes of people in the State. 

During the summmer of 1867, Judge Allen again 
removed his residence to Oswego, where he was residing 
when his party nominated him for the important and res- 
ponsible office to which he was elected in November last. 
That a large pecuniary sacrifice was involved in his accept- 
ance of the position no one can doubt. But he surren- 
dered his individual wishes and interests to the judgment 
of his political friends. His department is one of the most 
important in the political economy of the State. That the 
same success and fidelity to the public interests will dis- 
tinguish him in that position which has through life 
characterized his public career, no one who knows him can 
doubt. 

In private life Judge Allen is genial, friendly and popu- 
lar. He has been an unwavering, life-long Democrat. He 
has been for many years a prominent and consistent member 
of the Presbyterian Church of his own city, and in all the 
relations of society he sustains the reputation and the char- 
acter of a consistent Christian and a good citizen. 



MARSHALL B. CHAMPLAIN, 

ATTOEXEY-GENERAL. 

Marshall Bolds Champlain, Attorney-General of the 
State, is a direct descendant from the discoverer of Lake 
Champlain, and is therefore, on his father's side, of French 
extraction. His mother's family were originally from Ire- 
land. He unites in himself the ease and affability of the 
former nation with the fervency and ardor of the latter 
race. His father, Gilbert B. Champlain, was a success- 
ful physician, who served as a hospital surgeon during the 
war of 1812, and subsequently, for thirty years, enjoyed 
an extensive practice in the western part of the State. He 
was a man of great energy of character, and brilliant and 
cultivated mind. He died in 1852. 

Mr. Champlain was born in Stafford, Genesee county, 
December 22, 1824. In his early years the family removed 
to Cuba, Allegany county, where he has since continued 
to reside. His education was confined, so flxr as scholastic 
instruction was concerned, to the common schools, except 
when, for a shoi't period, he attended the Middlebury 
Academy, in Wyoming county. But what young Cham- 
plain lacked in the advantages afforded by academies and 
colleges, he made up by that without which even those 
aids are useless — a determination to acquire knowledge, 
and untiring assiduity in its pursuit. His father could 
not aid him pecuniarily, and he received no help from 
friends. But the obstacles of poverty Avere nothing to his 
will, and the fountain of knowledge could not remain 
unreached by him. 

The young student read law with James A. Guernsey, 
of Pittsford, Monroe County, and Hon. A. S. Diven, 



MARSHALL B. CHAMPLAHS". 39 

of Ano-elica, and at the early age of eighteen was gratified 
by being admitted to the Bar, and was soon rewarded by 
a good practice, which rapidly extended throughout Alle- 
gany and the adjoining counties. The youthful practi- 
tioner was not long in attracting the attention of the 
leading men in his section, and in January, 1845, he was 
appointed by the Allegany Court of Common Pleas to the 
position of District Attorney of the county. He was 
admitted a Counsellor of the Supreme Court, " ex gratia,^'' to 
enable him to accept the office, which he filled four years. 
While he held that position, he was of course brought 
more prominently to the attention of the public. His 
personal appearance and manner were calculated to im- 
press a jury as but few criminal pleaders are able to do. 
Of medium height and erect cai-riage, piercing eye, dark 
hair, and dark olive complexion, with a countenance 
expressing intelligence and confidence, when he arose for a 
forensic effort, not even his youth could prevent a stranger 
from expecting a superior disj^lay of oratorical ability and 
legal acumen. And no disappointment followed. His 
voice swelled full and clear, his statements of fact were 
concentrated, earnest and plain, and as he warmed with his 
subject, he would become impressive and fervent, play- 
ing upon the sympathies and passions of listeners with a 
master's hand. At the end of four years he retired from 
the office of District Attorney to the prosecution of an 
extensive and remunerative practice. 

Such marked talents necessarily commended their pos- 
sessor for political preferment. In 1851, he was prevailed 
upon to accept a nomination for State Senator. The 
district was strongly Whig, by a usual majority of 1,500. 
The previous candidate was James R. Doolittle, now 
United States Senator from Wisconsin. His opponent was 
General John A. McElwain, of Wyoming county, who 



40 LIFE SKETCHES. 

•was elected by a majority of only 232 votes. Mr. Cham- 
plain's popularity having been thus attested, he was 
nominated the following year for Member of Assembly for 
Allegany county, and was elected by a large majority. 
He was the last Democratic member chosen from that 
county. 

The Assembly of 1853 was one of the most important, 
in the business that came before it, of any that has ever 
convened. In it, Mr. Champlain attained a brilliant repu- 
tation. His perceptions were quick and strong ; his mind 
clear and discriminating; his judgment sagacious and 
prudent ; his reasoning logical and convincing. Besides, 
he soon acquired an intimate knowledge of parliamentary 
law, and was from the first a ready as well as an able 
debater. A newspaper of that day of opposing politics, 
said of him : " He is a young man of much promise and, 
*' unless we much mistake, will yet distinguish himself 
" among the public men of the State." He was a member 
of the Canal Committee, and made a vigorous speech in 
defence of the canal policy of Horatio Setmoue, then 
Governor of the State. The occasion of his first partici- 
pation, in any marked manner, in the proceedings of the 
House, was an interesting one. On the discussion of some 
financial resolutions the excitement ran high, and one 
member refused to vote when his name was called. The 
Speaker, Hon. William H. Ludlow, at once ordered him 
under arrest. General Bueroughs, of Orleans, who led 
the opposition, thought to avail himself of the occurrence 
to intensify the feeling, widen a breach in the majority, 
and compel the Speaker to resign. At the opening of the 
session the next morning, he ofiered as a privileged ques- 
tion, a resolution of censure, declaring the act of the 
Speaker an exercise of arbitrary power, unwarranted by 
the laws and Constitution of the State, and supported the 



MARSHALL B. CHAMPLAIN. 41 

resolution in a speech of great force. Mr. Champlaix 
responded in defence of tlie Speaker. It was off-hand, but 
clear and irresistible in its exposition of parliamentary 
law. Before his speech, it seemed that the combination of 
factions, supported by the able effort of Mr. Burroughs, 
would be successful, but Mr. Champlaix turned the tide, 
and the Sjjeaker was sustained by an almost unanimous 
vote. 

Xo more significant evidence of the estimation in which 
Mr. Champlaix was held can be given than the jjosition 
assigned him in the corruption and imj^eachment proceed- 
ings of the session. He was Chairman of the Select 
Committee ordered to inquire into the conduct of the State 
officers, and submitted a report which resulted in a resolu- 
tion impeaching Canal Commissioner Joiix C. Mathir. 
His sjDcech in support of his resolution exhibited great 
research, eloquence and powei\ We make short extracts, 
showing at once what he regarded as the hope and danger 
of our institutions. Would that its admonitions might be 
more generally heeded ! He said : 

'•'New York has a mission to perform. It is to advance this 
Republic to the highest position of national glory, or to sink it to 
the lowest depths of national degradation. New York shall mould 
the destiny of this empire. Her morals, her policy, her public 
order, and her justice and liberty shall impress and give direction 
to the American Republic. 

" Sir, I have nearly done. I do not demand the condemnation 
of John C. Mather — I have no right to demand it — you have no 
power to grant it. Were I his enemy, which I am not, were all 
the hate, personal or political, rankling in any human bosom against 
him, concentrated in my own ; and did I stand upon this floor to 
gratify that hate, and blast his earthly hopes, I would not dare to 
demand more than his trial — a fair, impartial trial. I do not know 
that he has an enemy in the world — whatever of party hate and 
party asperity may exist elsewhere, I implore you to let it not 



42 LIFE SKETCHES. * 

enter these halls. We have a consolation in the reflection that if 
we adopt this resolution, we shall commit his case to a tribunal 
high above such unhallowed influences. While on the one hand 
we throw around the case of the accused a generous and noble 
sympathy — while we guard with vigilance private right and per- 
sonal liberty, we must remember that we have no tears to weep 
over buried hopes ; that we cannot twine myrtle to decorate the 
funeral car of a declining political reputation — that we cannot lay 
in a common grave the sacred trust committed to our hands by the 
laws and Constitution of our country. But seventy-seven years 
have gone down the rapid tide of time since 

' The bounding isles of the dim woods rang with anthems of the free.' 

" Have we proved the duration of our system of free govern- 
ment. Need I refer you to the republics of the Old World. We 
are familiar with their fabled history, we have read of their splen- 
dors, their glories, their trophies, their temples, their triumphal 
arches, the free spirit of liberty that pervaded them, their decline 
and their ruin. How they crumbled and passed away in the 
melancholy drama of destruction. One starthng truth has been 
recorded o'er the ruin upon the sacred cenotaph of time. History 
tells us that ' all the illusions of ambition realized, all the Avealth 
of a universal commerce, all the achievements of successful heroism, 
or all the establishments of this world's' wisdom, cannot secure to 
empire the permanency of its possession.' **=!=* 

"If property is invaded, if laws are violated, if personal liberty is 
compromised — the people appeal Avith a firm confidence to the 
Courts — the judicial tribunals of the land. If the judgment seat 
becomes corrupted, its ermine sullied, they aj^peal to the Assembly. 
If public officers are guilty of a dereliction of official duty, if public 
laws are disobeyed and the public Aveal neglected, they come with 
strong reliance upon the purity, the firmness of the People's Assem- 
bly. There is no other tribunal to which they can appeal. Here 
in the jury box of the grand inquest of the commonwealth, their 
dearest hopes are centered. Here shall be the last great struggle 
between that confiding people and the destroyer — the corrupting 
moneyed power, which is fihng off the iron bars of your Constitu- 



MARSHALL B. CHAMPLAIN. 43 

tion. Here is the palladium of their liberties. Here that liberty if 
ever subverted, shall be cloven down." 

The re.solution of impeachment was adopted by more 
than a two-third vote. 

Mr. CiiAMPLAix was selected by the Assembly as one of 
its Managers, to conduct the trial before the High Court 
of Impeachment. Johx K. Porter was selected as coun- 
sel for the Managers. They were opposed by Hon. Rufus 
W. Peckiia:h, Hon. James T. Brady and Hon. Johx H. 
Rey^stolds, who appeared as counsel for the accused. Mr. 
Champlai:^' took an important part in the debate. His 
argument in regard to the general law governing impeach- 
ment cases is so cogent and able that we make liberal 
extracts from it. Events which have recently excited the 
country, impart to his remarks fresh interest. He said : 

'"All poAver is inherent in the people. They have granted to 
their immediate representatives, the Assembly, the right of impeach- 
ment. This branch of government is nearest to them, and reflects 
their wants, and will the more vigilantly guard their rights. It is 
a power to accuse; to say what acts in a public officer are sufficient 
in turpitude to demand his removal from office ; what acts disgrace 
the official and dishonor the State. The Constitution gives this tri- 
bunal simply the power to try the fact and pronounce the judg- 
ment. If you have jurisdiction of the officer, then the duty is 
solemnly enjoined to try the accusation preferred, and if proven to 
be true in point of fact, to declare the judgment. 

" The Constitution does not vest the power to impeach or accuse 
conjointly in the Assembly and the Court. It is exclusive with the 
Assembly. If the Court may revise and modify the articles of 
impeachment, or strike out accusations, what is it but a reversal 
of the action of the Assembly, and an exercise of the function of 
impeachment ? We claim it would be a usurpation of a constitu- 
tional prerogative of the A<^sembly and an invasion of the solemn 
rights of the people. Ko Court can despoil the popular branch of 
the Legislature of this power. Judicial opinion, the waves of par- 



44 LIFE SKETCHES. 

tizaii prejudice, or passion, may beat upon it in vain, but they cannot 
subvert it. It is founded in the Constitution itself, and upheld by 
the spirit and power of a free-born people. As a precedent, such 
an adjudication is full of danger. Suppose that the People by their 
verdict, ■which Avould be the judgment of the highest tribunal in 
the world, should reassert this prerogative ; that, rising in their 
primitive power and energy, they should affirm that the right of 
impeachment is vested alone by the Constitution in the Assembly, 
acting through their immediate representatives, they place the pro- 
mulgation of that constitutional right in the solemn form of an 
impeachment against the judges Avho have invaded it! This tribu- 
nal could again usurp a jurisdiction they do not possess ; again 
invade the prerogatives of the House ; again mutilate the record of 
accusation; again strike out the articles that impugned them, 
declare their own immunity and beat down in the dust the consti- 
tutional power of the People and their Assembly ; and thus the 
order and harmony of the government would be subverted. The 
great bulwark of the people, reared against vice and corruption in 
the government, would be annihilated, and a revolution only could 
apply the remedy. 

"Sir, standing here in the highest tribunal of the commonwealth, 
whose humble agent I am, the dictates of a high duty compels me 
most solemnly to protest against the exercise of this power. Its 
usurpation now and in this case, may not fix the public attention or 
arouse the public fears. The event may pass from the public 
mind like the fleeting clouds upon the horizon, but a conviction 
weighs upon me that the time shall come, and come as swiftly as 
the engendering corruptions of the age can bring it, when this 
sacred principle of constitutional right in the Assemby will be vin- 
dicated by the recuperative power of the people. The fair fabric 
of civil government may totter to the fall. The absence of public 
virtue in government officials may enshroud all in gloom. The dark- 
ness of political decay and ruin may o'ershadow the land. But this 
great principle regenerated, breaking forth like the bright effulgence 
of morning, shall dispel the darkness, and give back to the People's 
Assembly the high prerogative of which they had been despoiled, 
and restore to a violated Constitution its departed splendor. 



MARSHALL B. CHAMPLAIX. 45 

"This brings me to the examination of the question raised by 
the counsel, whether an act to be impeachable, must be an indicta- 
able offense. We shall maintain, that by the Common Law, to 
which the counsel has appealed, by the usage of Parhament, by all 
the authorities upon this subject, it is not necessary that an act in 
orchr to he impeachahh, should he indictahle as a crime at Common 
Laio, or hy any Statute. We can follow the counsel in his argu- 
ment, until he refers to the Common Law, to define impeachable 
acts, and then we choose to refer to one branch of that Law, 
and he to another. He goes to the provisions of the Common 
Law, which define indictable crimes — felonies and misdemeanors as 
such. We prefer to go to that portion ivhitli defines ivhat shall consti- 
tute impeachcd)h crimes and misdemeanors; and we claim that the 
Common Law of impeachments, the usage of Parliament, clearly 
establishes, from the very nature of the proceeding, that the act 
for which an impeachment may be instituted, need not consist of 
an indictahle crimed 

Citations of several cases follow. 

" It will be perceived that these cases fully establish the doctrine 
that an impeachment may be preferred for a usurpation of power, 
for an excess of jurisdiction, and as Mr. Justice Story says, for neg- 
lects or malversations in office. What those neglects or malversa- 
tions shall he is not defined, and I think the counsel will no where 
find by the authority of any tribunal that the precise class of acts 
of official misconduct, which are impeachable, have been specified. 
They cannot be laid down, for the reason that it is a matter which 
cannot be exactly defined. It may vary with the varying interests 
of the community, or the changing pohcy of government. The 
right is reserved to the impeaching body to judge for what sort of 
misconduct or for what magnitude of misconduct an impeachment 
may be preferred. When the policy of a government becomes 
fixed, whatever is opposed to that policy, whatever acts in a pub- 
lic office, conflict with and affect adversely the public weal, those 
acts become impeachable. The officer is bound to support the laws, 
the policy, the prosperity, and the honor of the government he 
represents. When he neglects this, or acts in direct conflict with 



46 LIFE SKETCHES. 

them, then he forfeits his trust, he violates the compact under which 
he accepted the franchise, and becomes liable to be removed by 
impeachment." 

" The theory of this motion is not only that the official who is 
upon trial, has usurped an important prerogative, not only that he 
has been guilty of a gross excess of official power, but that the 
dark outline of his acts has been filled up by corruption — foul cor- 
ruption. This is conceded by the motion ; and it at the same time 
asserts that he is not liable to trial or removal, We charge him, 
in the first five articles, with having awarded contracts for $6,000,- 
000 of work. His counsel come before this tribunal and say, this 
was a usurpation of power ; he had no right to do it. They strike 
from around him all semblance of law, all semblance of official 
authority. They concede, that in the usurpation of that power, 
and in its exercise, he disgraced his ofBce and was guilty of corrup- 
tion. And yet, the startling and monstrous doctrine is advanced, 
that the State is powerless to dissolve its connection with this 
delinquent. Mr. Justice Story says that it is the purpose of an 
impeachment to withdraw from the hands of an official a trust that 
he has betrayed. It is the purpose of an impeachment to take 
back from an officer, an office that the people have conferred upon 
him, when, by any act in the exercise of that office, usurped or 
not, assumed or not, indictable or not, he has shown himself 
unworthy longer to hold it. Why, sir, it seems to me that if this 
doctrine is to be maintained, disgrace and infamy, long and lasting, 
may be inflicted upon the fair escutcheon of a State or Nation, 
with no power in the government of either, to rid itself of the 
unworthy official. Shall it be said that a conspiracy, a corruption, 
under even an assumed power, is not a disgrace to the officer ? 
Shall it be said that it is not official misconduct ? Shall it be said 
that it is not dishonorable ? It is dishonorable to all to whom honor 
is dear. Shall it be said that an officer may not show himself, by 
the manner in which he executes an unconstitutional law, entirely 
unfit to execute a valid law ? Why, sir, crime in the conduct of 
high officials, has but to be ingenious and studiously avoid the inhi- 
bitions of criminal law, by steering clear of an indictment, and 
according to this doctrine the State would be utterly powerless to 



MARSHALL E. CHAMPLAIN. 47 

discharge from her temples the unworthy official, or dissolve her 
connection with him. It is not enough that the commonwealth 
has suffered a deep pecuniary injury. It is not enough that a dark 
cloud has been thrown athwart the pathway of her advancement 
in public glor3\ It is not enough that the generous sensibilities of 
her citizens have been deeply wounded by her dishonor. But you 
are called upon, solemnly to declare that she cannot divorce herself 
from the unworthy agent who has betrayed her ; that she must, 
although struggling to avert the catastrophe, become an accomplice 
in the crime, by continuing the official character of the criminal." 

The Court denied the motion against Avhich the argu- 
ment of Mr. Champlaust had been directed. 

Ml". Champlain's coohiess and skill on the floor, with 
his superior abilities, secured for him tlie acknowledged 
position of leader of his party in the House. It was dur- 
ing this session that dissensions began in the Democratic 
party. The inaugural address of President Pierce was 
the occasion for a development of this division. Resolu- 
tions indorsing the Inaugural were introduced, but they 
were deemed too faltering and cold by others, and addi- 
tional resolutions more full and hearty were offered. These 
w^ere sustained by Mr. Champlaix in an eloquent 
impromptu speech, which was copied by the leading Demo- 
cratic papers of the country, and elicited the warmest 
encomiums from the friends of the President. 

Mr. Champlain has always been a consistent Democrat. 
His first participation in politics was in 1844, when he took 
the stump for James K. Polk, as he also did in 1848 for 
Lewis Cass. He has supported every Democratic candi- 
date for the Presidency since that time. He was admitted 
to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1858, on 
motion of Mr. Black. He was a delegate to the Charles- 
ton Convention in 1860, supported Douglas, and was 
chosen to present the claims of the New York delegates. 



48 LIFE SKETCHES. 

In 1861, upon the withdrawal of Hon, Ltmais^ Teemaine 
as candidate for Attorney-General, Mr. Champlai^t Avas 
substituted. In Jul 3^, 1862, Governor Moegan appointed 
him a member of the War Committee of his Congressional 
District, and in conjunction with Hon. MartijST Grover 
and Hon. Wilkes Angel, the duty was well and faithfully 
performed. He was again nominated for Attorney-Gene- 
ral in 1863. In 1864, he was a delegate to the Chicago 
Convention, favoring the nomination of Gen. McClellan. 
In April, 1867, he was elected a Delegate at Large to the 
Constitutional Convention of this State, where his partici- 
pation in the debates exhibited the same finish, clearness 
and power which has always characterized his efforts. 
His speeches upon the Rights of Naturalized Citizens, 
Suffrage, National Banks and in Defense of Personal 
Liberty, attracted wide attention for their forcible declara- 
tion of his sentiments on those subjects. That upon 
" Personal Liberty " has been extensively published in 
Democratic papers from Maine to California. He was 
elected Attorney-General in the fall of 1867. His popular- 
ity in his own section of the State was attested by the fact 
that in the town in which he resides he ran 150 ahead of 
his ticket ; in the county about five hundred, and largely 
also in the adjoining counties. 

Fearless, able, firm and upright in public life, Mr. Cham- 
plain is also honored in private life. As a neighbor and 
citizen, he is honored ; his social qualities render him a 
favorite in society, and his kindliness of heart, manifested 
in practical deeds of love, have attached him to the more 
humble. 



WHP:ELER H. BRISTOL, 

STATE TREASURER. 

Mr. Bristol Avas born in Canaan, Columbia County, 
Xew York, January 16, 1818. He had none of the advan- 
tages of education except such as were derived from the 
common schools of the country. During his boyhood he 
devoted his time to agricultural pursuits. At the age of 
eighteen he left home and became engaged with an 
engineering party upon the construction of the Utica and 
Schenectady railroad. Upon the completion of that work 
he went to Ohio and was engaged in various kinds of 
business until 1847, when he became engaged upon the 
construction of the New York and Erie railroad, where 
he remained until 1854, when he was appointed Assistant 
Superintendent of the Ohio and Mississippi railroad at 
Cincinnati, and continued upon that road nntil 1857, when 
he became one of the firm known as the McCallum Bridge 
Company in Cincinnati, and has continued as such during 
the past ten years, spending most of his time in the con- 
struction of bridges in the Western and Southern States. 
In 1863 and 1864, he was engaged in re-building bridges 
for the Government, which had been destroyed by the 
confederate army to impede the progress of our soldiers. 
Among the prominent bridges re-constructed were the 
bridges at Bridgeport, Alabama, and London, Tennessee, 
and many others in the same States. In 1853, he was 
appointed by Governor Seymour to fill the vacancy in the 
ofiice of State Engineer, caused by the resignation of W. 
J. McAlpiiste, but business arrangements compelled him 
to decline the appointment. He was nominated xxpon the 
7 



50 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Democratic ticket in 1853, for State Engineer but the 
election resulted in the success of Joiix T. Clakk, 
the Whig candidate. The Democrats of Tioga county- 
nominated him for Member of Assembly in 1863 and 1864, 
and although defeated in both elections, he ran largely- 
ahead of his ticket, reducing the usual majority of 1,200 
to about 350. He has held the office of Supervisor of the 
town of Tioga for the past two years, and was the only- 
Democratic Supervisor in the county. 

Mr. Bristol has always acted with the Democratic 
party. He gave liberally towards the support of the 
Government during the war, and sustained the Adminis- 
tration in its efforts to maintain the Union. He has 
always been steadfast and firm in his devotion to the Con- 
stitution, and opposed to every infi-ingement of this heri- 
tage of the Nation. Possessed of ample means, mainly the 
result of his own remarkable energy, his liberal hand is 
ever open to the poor, and ready to help forward the 
enterprise of his neighbors. Whatever is of public interest 
finds in him ready cooperation. Though largely engaged 
in business, both in Cincinnati and Owego, at which latter 
place he has extensive iron works, he yet finds time to take 
an active part in all matters of local interest, political and 
social. He is a vestryman in his parish church, and gives 
to it a sincere interest and most liberal support, though 
not a communicant. The beauty of his residence at Glen 
Mary, near Owego, the former home of N. P. Willis, and 
named by him, is not more attractive than the hearty 
hospitality that generously awaits those who visit it. 
His character is read in his fine frank face, as a man 
who despises sham. He is outspoken and fearless, never 
coui'ting popularity, and in consequence possessed of 
the more. He is untiring in energy, and courageous in 
what he believes to be his duty. Of the high estimate in 



WHEELER H. BRISTOL. 51 

which his character is held as a citizen and man by those 
who know him best, no stronger assurance could be given 
than the vote of his county, which is strongly Republican, 
where he ran largely ahead of his ticket in the late can- 
vass. 

Pie was elected Treasurer of the State of New York in 
November, 1867, on the Democratic ticket, by a majority 
of 48,000. His known integrity is a guarantee that he 
will discharge his duties faithfullv and honestlv. 



VAN RENSSELAER RICHMOND, 

STATE E]^fGIXEEE AND SURVEYOR. 

Van R. Richmond is a life-long engineer. He is thor- 
oughly conversant with all the duties of that position on 
the canals. Pie Avas born in Preston, Chenango County, 
in January, 1812, being the eldest son of Oliver Rich- 
mond. His father was a farmer, who died in 1853, at an 
advanced age. The son was educated at the Academy in 
Oxford, Chenango County, receiving a first rate practical 
business education. 

Mr. Richmond, on attaining his ma.]ority, became engaged 
upon the Chenango canal, then in process of construction, 
and received from the State the appointment of Chairman 
in the engineering force. He remained on this canal, 
gradually rising in point of rank, until 1837, when he was 
appointed Resident Engineer on the Er^e canal, and took 
up his residence in Lyons. In 1842, he was placed in 
charge of the entire Middle Division, under Jonas Earll 
and Daniel P. Bissell as Canal Commissioners. He held 
this position until 1848, when he resigned, in order to 
accept an appointment on the OsAvego Railroad. 

About this time, the Canal Board decided to run a line 
for the enlarged canal from Jordan to the Cayuga Marshes. 
This work, including the aqueduct across the Seneca 
river, will be recognized as one of the most important 
along the entire canal. The Board, appreciating the neces- 
sity of having the most accomplished engineer to design 
the construction, after canvassing the merits of every man 
in their employ, and, in fact, of all the leading engineers 
of the State, selected Mr. Richmond as the man to whom 



VAN RENSSELAER RICHMOND, 53 

the trust could be most safely confided. The value of this 
choice will he the more readily understood, when we state 
that the Board was Whig in politics, while Mr. R. had 
never been anything else than a Democrat. He accepted 
an appointment so flattering, perfected his plans, including 
the aqueduct, submitted them and they were approved. 
They still remain, the most telling evidences of the skill, 
capacity and genius of their designer. Having satisfac- 
torily arranged the plan, Mr. R. resigned in 1850. 

He was at once tendered, and accepted, the oflice of 
Division Engineer of the Syracuse and Rochester direct 
railroad, Avhich he held imtil 1852, when he was again 
appointed Division Engineer of the Middle Division of 
the Canals. A Whig Canal Board was again elected in the 
Fall of 1853, the Hon. John T. Clark being chosen State 
Engineer. Very persistent efibrts were made to secure 
the removal of Mr. Richmond, but Mr. Clark turned 
away the most powerful influences, deciding to retain his 
services, a fact than which none could bear stronger testi- 
monial to his personal fitness and worth. The American 
party assumed control of the Canal Board in 1856, and at 
once removed Mr. R., for the only time in his life. He 
thereupon retired to his home in Lyons, where he resided 
until January, 1858, when, in obedience to the voice of the 
people, as expressed in the election of the preceding Fall, he 
entered upon the discharge of the duties of the oflice of State 
Engineer and Surveyor. He acquitted himself to the entire 
satisfaction of the business public during the two years of his 
term, retiring with honor and additional credit. He was 
again elected in 1867. He is of course rendering entire 
satisfaction to the public in the method of his adminis- 
tration. 

Of Mr, Richmond's superior abilities as an engineer we 
need not speak. The tributes to his capacities which we 



54 LIFE SKETCHES. 

have recorded are a sufficient attestation. He is also 
industrious, upright, faithful and energetic. He is of a 
tall and slender form, but is nevertheless capable of much 
physical endurance. His complexion is fair, hair light, 
eyes light blue. In short, he is an athlete, in mind and 
body. 



PATRICK H. JONES, 

CLERK OF THE COURT OF APPEALS. 

Mr. JoxEs is a gentleman of slight proportions, but 
plainly possessing powers of great endurance. He has a 
mild, calculating eye, a pleasant face, and a courteous, 
modest mien. He was born in the county of Westmeath, 
Ireland, November 20th, 1830. At the age of seven he 
was sent to a grammar school in the city of Dublin, 
where he remained for three years; and, in 1840, at the 
age of ten, he came to this country with his parents, who 
settled on a form in the county of Cattaraugus, New 
Yoi'k. He w^as sent by his parents to the Union School 
at Ellicottville, then presided over by Professor Lowell, 
of Middlebury College, Vermont, where he was well 
grounded in the common branches of school studies. In 
1850, being then twenty yeai'S of age, he became con- 
nected with a leading journal of this State, and traveled 
through the Western States as its correspondent. He 
subsequently became the local editor of the " Buftalo 
Republic," and one of the editors of the " Buffalo Sen- 
tinel." 

The pursuits of a journalist do not appear to have been 
congenial to the tastes of Mr. Jones, for, in 1853, he 
began the study of law in the office of Hon. Addison G. 
Rice, at Ellicottville, New York. Three years afterward, 
Mr. Jones was admitted to the bar, and commenced the 
practice of law in partnersliip with Mr. Rice ; he contin- 
ued this partnership until the outbreak of the Rebellion, 
when, like so many of his profession, he left the desk of a 
lawyer to enter the army, in which he was destined to 



56 LIFE SKETCHES. 

rise to distinction. Much of the interest of this sketch, 
of course, centers in his military career. It was his 
bravery which brought him so early into prominence, and 
secured his elevation by the voice of the people to high 
official position, as a spontaneous testimonial of approba- 
tion and thankfulness for services rendei'ed to his country. 
He entered the service in 1861, as Second Lieutenant in 
the 37th Regiment, New York Volunteers, commanded by 
Colonel J. H. McCuxn^, now one of the judges of the 
Superior Coui't of New York city. His regiment was 
attached to the army of General McClellan, and Lieu- 
tenant Jones served throughout the whole Campaign of 
the Peninsula, and was present at the battles of Williams- 
burgh, Fair Oaks, and the battles of the celebrated 
retreat to Harrison's Landing. For gallant conduct 
during this campaign. Lieutenant Jones wds success- 
ively promoted Adjutant and Major of his regiment, 
before the close of the Peninsular cami^aign. That the 
services of Lieutenant Jones' regiment, during these bat- 
tles, were important, and the fighting severe, will appear 
from the fact that it formed a part of the command of the 
gallant Kearney, who fell at Chantilly. Major Jones 
Avas commissioned Colonel of the 154th Regiment, New 
York Volunteers, in October, 1862. This regiment was 
raised in the counties of Cattaraugus and Chautauqua. 
UjDon its arrival at Washington, Colonel Jones assumed 
command of it, having just left his old regiment, the 37th, 
in which he had so gallantly earned his promotion. He 
soon afterward reported to General Sigel, whose command 
at that time formed a part of the Army of the Potomac. 
Upon the retirement of General Buenside in the new 
organization of the army, Colonel Jones' regiment was a 
portion of the command of General O. O. Howard, under 
whom he fought at Chancellorsville, where he fell severely 



PATRICK H, JONEF. 57 

wounded, fighting amidst the rout of his corps. He fell 
into the enemy's hands during the battle, but was soon 
after exchanged. In the meantime, and while he was 
recovering from his wounds, General Howard's corps, the 
11th, and Slocum's, the 12th, were ordered to the west 
under Hooker, to relieve the starving army of Thomas 
at Chattanooga, recently driven by BractG from the field 
of Chickamauga. Colonel Jones rejoined his regiment the 
day before the battle of Chattanooga, having hastened 
thither as soon as the nature of his wounds would admit, 
and thus had the honor of being present at that great 
battle which eftectually turned the tide of rebel victory in 
the west, and plucked from Bragg the laurels won at 
Chickamauga. Soon after the corps of Howard and 
Slocuh were consolidated by order of General Grant, and 
formed thenceforth the 20tli corps under General Hooker. 
In the new organization. Colonel Jones was assigned with 
his regiment to the division of General J. W. Geary 
(present Governor of Pennsylvania), a sagacious and skill- 
ful officer. He commanded a brigade under General 
(teary during the terrible and glorious campaign of 
Atlanta, and in the great march of Sherman to the Atlan- 
tic ; and entered Savannah in triumph, on the 22d of 
December, 1804, in the van of the army. It is well known 
that General Geary's vigilance Avas rewarded on the 
occasion by the discovery of the evacuation of the city 
by the enemy. He entered Savannah while the rest of 
the army were sleeping. Colonel Jones was stationed 
with his brigade in the city. For services during the cam- 
paigns of Chattanooga and Atlanta, he was promoted to 
the rank of Brigadiei'-General, upon the recommendation 
of Generals Hooker and Howard, approved by General 
Sherman himself After the great review at Washington, 
active service being over, he resigned his commission and 

8 



58 LIFE SKETCHES. 

retired to civil life. He recommenced the practice of law, 
on his return home. He was elected on the Union Repub- 
lican ticket of 1865 to the position of Clerk of the Court 
of Appeals, and entered upon the duties of the office Janu- 
ary 1st, 1866. In their discharge he has secured the par- 
ticular approval of the legal fraternity, who have found 
him ever attentive and obliging, and faithful to his trusts. 
Such is a short account of the interesting history of this 
gentleman. So many men of the present day, fresh from 
the fields of strife, are so worthy of admiration, that it 
seems almost invidioiis to eulogize any particular one ; but 
we cannot refrain from adding that Mr. Jones' course, from 
boyhood to the present time, has been marked by integrity 
of purpose and bravery of spirit. Born in a land where 
the oppression of hundreds of years has not been able to 
crush out the longings of the people for liberty, and 
coming to a country where every man is a sovereign, and 
where eagerness for distinction, wealth and power, is 
remarkable, he has, in reality, " won his Avay " in a pi-aise- 
worthy manner. 



SENATORS. 



A. BLEECKER BANKS. 



A. Bleecker Banks, the Senator from the Thirteenth 
District, was born in the city of New York March 7, 1835. 
His father, David Baxks, is one of the oldest business 
men of New York, having established a law book publish- 
ing house in that city as early as 1802, and soon after 
connected Avith the same a branch house at Albany, the 
capital of the State. These establishments are now car- 
ried on by the sons of the founder, the present Senator 
being at the head of the branch house at Albany. 

Mr. Banks was educated to business, and at an early 
age became familiar with all the various branches of trade 
connected with printing and publishing books. The char- 
acter of the business in which his father was engaged 
brought him in contact with men of the highest reputa- 
tion, and made him fomiliar with authors whose works 
must continue to remain the standard of law literature for 
many generations to come. The influence thus exerted 
over his mind was not lost. It tended to shape his future 
course and inspired him with an ambition to make his 
own influence felt among those with whom he might be 
called upon to associate. At the age of nineteen he 
entered Columbia College and enjoyed the benefits of that 



60 LIFE SKETCHES. 

renowned institution. In 1857, when but twenty-two years 
of age, he assumed the management of the Albany pub- 
lishing house of Banks & Brothers, and became one of the 
partners. In 1860 he Avas the Democratic candidate for 
the Assembly in the Second District, Albany county. 
The odds were vastly against him, but his popularity was 
such that he cut down the large Republican majority of 
the previous year to 265. In 1861 he changed his resi- 
dence to the Third, or what is better known as the City 
District, and Avas again put in nomination for the Assem- 
bly. This effort proved a success, as he was elected by a 
majority of 447. He Avas one of the youngest merabei'S 
of the House that year, but from his knoAvledge of public 
men and measures, took rank at once as a man of influ- 
ence ; and although in a political minority was accorded 
places upon important committees. 

In 1867, after a residence of ten years in Albany, his 
friends brought forAvard his name as a candidate for Sena- 
tor. After a someAA'hat active cauA^ass, he was nominated 
for that oflice by the County Convention, and was elected 
over Charles H. Adams, his popular opponent, by a 
majority of 1,166. Two years before, the district now 
represented by Mr. Banks, elected to the same position 
Lorenzo D. Collins, Republican. 

Senator Banks does not make pretensions to oratory. 
His power to influence men lies in his activity, his keen 
discernment, quick judgment and careful analysis of char- 
acter. He is ready to give his energies in aid of public 
enterprises, and uniformly acquires the position of a 
leader in whateA'er he undertakes. Always a favorite 
among those who know him best, he cannot fail to become 
popular with his associates in the Senate, and with the 
widening circle of acquaintance to which his position must 
introduce him. 



GEORGE BEACH. 



George Beach was born July 26, 1817, in Winchester, 
Litchfield County, Connecticut — the natal soil of many of 
the most prominent New York State politicians — and is 
now in the 51st year of his age. His father, a plain, sub- 
stantial farmer, was one of that now almost obsolete class 
of clear-headed, sententious men, quite numerous lialf a 
century agone. He evidently transmitted to his children 
many of his excellent and decidedly practical traits of 
character. 

The circumstances of Senator Beach's parents being 
moderate, his childhood was not luxurious, nor suri'ounded 
by many advantages. In 1825, like " the march of empire," 
westward he took his way, with his father's family, to the 
Catskill Mountains, where, (land being not only cheap, but 
the area so extended as to admit of cultivation on three 
superficial sides), he soon became inured to the laborious 
duties of a struggling farmer's son — occasionally attend- 
ing a common district school — but fai'm labor in summer, 
and lumbering in winter, monopolized his youthful years. 

Early manifesting a taste for political life, upon the 
attainment of his majority, he at once took a commanding 
local position, and represented his town (Jewett) for four 
years in the Boai'd of Supervisors of Greene County, 
besides holding several minor town and county offices. 
He was a prominent and active member of the New York 
delegations to the Democratic National Conventions, in 
1860 and 1864. In July, 1863, he Avas appointed, by Gov- 
ernor Seymour, Colonel of the 86th Regiment, National 
Guard, State of New York, and, in the fall of the same 



62 LIFE SKETCHES. 

year he was elected to the State Senate, from the Greene 
and Ulster district by 1,500 majority. In July, 1867, he 
was appointed, by Governor Fenton, Brigadier-General of 
the 8th Brigade, 5th Division, National Guard, State of 
New York, and in November, 1867, he was re-elected to 
the present Senate from the same district by a majority 
of 2,016. 

He has ever been an old-school Democrat, of " the 
strictest sect," and was never known to deviate a hair's 
breadth from the path of political fealty. 

Senator Beach took an active ])art in the proceedings of 
the Senate during the sessions of 1864-5. He was a mem- 
ber of some of the most important committees, and, by 
his untiring energy and strict attention to his duties as a 
legislator, although largely in the political minority, was 
instrumental in procuring the j^assage of several bills of 
both general and local importance. His record was so 
satisfactory to his constituents that he would have been 
returned to the following Senate, only for the reason that 
the nomination (on the principle of rotation) belonged to 
Ulster county. But at the last election, when it was the 
privilege of Greene county to name the candidate for 
Senator, he was the unanimous choice of the delegation. 
In the present Senate, he is a member of the Committees 
on Militia, Roads and Bridges and Poor Laws. 

As a speaker, Senator Beach is not ornate, though most 
convincing and impressive. Utterly discarding the flowers 
of rhetoric and rotund periods, he does not, like an illus- 
trious Senatorial predecessor, " defy the English language," 
but exhibits the workings of a rough-hewn, practical mind, 
which has arrived at its common sense conclusions after 
close scrutiny, and liberal observation, and dexterously 
delivers its points and convictions with positive force. 



JOHN J. BRADLEY. 63 

Mr. Beach possesses the most genial social qualifica- 
cations, which, with his amiable, positive character, and 
native shrewdness, promote his popularity among all 
classes. 

He resides in Catskill, Greene county, where he is at 
present engaged in mercantile pursuits. 



JOHN J. BRADLEY. 



Senator Bradley is the representative of the Seventh 
Senatorial District, comprising the Eighteenth, Twentieth 
and Twenty-first Wards of the city of New York, a dis- 
trict which embraces more wealth than any other district 
of the State. He is a native of the city of New York, 
and was born in the Third "Ward in March, 1831. He 
will therefore be thirty-seven years of age before the close 
of the present session. His parents were Irish, and came 
to this country from Ireland in 1827. 

Mr. Bradley was educated at the grammar school of 
Columbia College. At the age of sixteen, he entered into 
the employ of the importing house of George Pearce & 
Co., as a clerk, where he remained for five years, occupy- 
ing, most of the time, the most confidential position in 
that house. He then engaged in the livery stable busi- 
ness at the corner of Fourth avenue and Eighteenth street, 
and is now one of the most enterprising livery stable pro- 
prietors in the city of New York. 

In 1855, when twenty-four years of age, he, at the 
urgent solicitation of the Democrats of the Eighteenth 



64 LIFE SKETCHES. 

"Ward, became a candidate for Councilman. The dis- 
trict was considered a forlorn hope, but Mr. Bradley was 
elected by a majority of three votes, and held the position 
for three years. In 1857, he received the nomination for 
Alderman in the Fourteenth Aldermanic District, and was 
elected by a large majority. His course, while holding 
that position, was such as to meet the commendation of 
business men of the district. In fact he was one of the 
most influential members of the Board. 

In 1861, he was nominated by the Democrats of the 
Sixth Senatorial District, then composed of the ninth, 
fifteenth, sixteenth and eighteenth wards of the city of 
New York. This was the first year of the Avar. Both 
wings of the party united in his support and, although the 
district was the stronghold of the Republican party in the 
city, Mr. Bradley was elected by a handsome vote. The 
Republican party, however, ran two candidates, Mr. Man- 
NiERE and Mr. Smith, enabling Mr. Bradley to secure his 
election by a plurality of about one thousand votes. He 
took an active part in the Senate during the sessions of 
1862 and 1863, making one of the most attentive and 
industrious members of that body. He served on three 
committees, being chairman of the Committee on Public 
Expenditures, a position to which he was assigned by 
Lieutenant-Governor Campbell, and was also a member 
^of the Committees on Claims and on Indian Afi*airs, 

In 1866, he Avas nominated by Mayor Hoffmax, and 
confirmed by the Board of Aldermen, as President of the 
Croton Aqueduct Department. The incumbent of that 
oftice held on to the position, claiming the right to do so 
under one of those clauses in the tax levy, Avhich the 
Republicans placed in that bill at the close of the session 
of the Legislature of that year. A mandamus being 
refused by the courts, Mr. Bradley gave up the contest. 



JOHN J. BRADLEY. 65 

During the last campaign he Avas nominated by Tam- 
many Hall, as the representative of the Seventh Senator- 
ial District. The Mozart and Democratic Union factions 
of the Democratic jsarty, nominated Jonx Hardy, a young 
man who has heretofore shown himself a man of great 
strength before the people in one portion of the district. 
The Republicans united on Christopher Pullman, who 
had made considerable reputation in the Board of Council- 
men. The contest in the district was a spirited one, and 
one of the most hotly fought of any district in the State. 
Mr. Bradley not only came out successful, but lacked only 
fifty-eight votes of receiving a majority over both of his 
opponents. 

In person Senator Bradley is of medium size and 
height ; has light brown hair, blue eyes, and fresh counte- 
nance. He is a gentleman of considerable wealth, wdiich 
he has accumulated by his superior business attainments 
and strict attention to whatever he undertakes. 



SAMUEL CAMPBELL. 



The village of New York Mills lies in the lovely valley 
of the Mohawk and Sauquoit. There are three factories, 
the "Oneida," the famed "New York Mills," and the 
" Bnrr Stone." For a mile and a half skirting each side 
of the fine hard road, are the school houses and churches 
of the village, the grounds and residences of the factory 
owners, and the homes of the operatives. In summer, 
New York Mills is very attractive ; it is one of the sights, 
in Oneida county, which strangers go to see. The houses 
of the workingmen are neat, convenient and healthy, most 
of them standing back from the road, with yard in front, 
garden in rear, and half hidden by foliage. Sobriety and 
good order at all times prevail. 

It is hard to realize tliat this factory peoj^le, with their 
comfoi't, temperance and intelligence, their books, Sunday 
observances, and winter lectures, their freedom from the 
" clemming" of crowded Europe, are working at the same 
business, and were originally, very many of them, of the 
same nationality as the men and the women made familiar 
to us by Parliamentary reports and debates, by poets and 
novelists — the men and the women of Eliot, Mrs. Gas- 
KELL, Charlotte Broxte, Johx Bright and Charles 
KiNGSLEY. The good standing of New York Mills is due 
to the character of the employes, which has always been 
high, and to the regulations and example of the employers. 

The memory of Benjamin Walcott is honored in many 
places, but nowhere more honored than among the work- 
ing people, for whose interest and happiness he was 
zealous and responsible. The ovation given him some 



SAMUEL CAMPBELL. C7 

years ago, on his return from tlie Old World, was a strik- 
ing evidence of the love that was borne him ; the Avhole 
population turning out to give him joj-ous welcome. His 
ideas have, in the main, been carried out by his successors, 
his son and Samuel Campbell, the stranger, whom, thirty- 
five years ago, the elder Walcott welcomed within his 
gates. 

Samuel Campbell was born at Tarbolton, Ayrshire, 
Scotland, in 1809. In his boyhood he had the advantages 
of those schools for which his native land has been 
renowned through Europe, since Johx Knox returned 
from the feet of Calvin, and Scotland broke forever with 
Rome. He came to America in 1831, and pitched his tent 
in New York Mills. He began his new life, as a work- 
ingraan, in the employ of Marshall & Walcott. He 
had an iron frame, great working power, mechanical skill, 
ready adaptation of means to ends, quick perception of 
defects and remedies, and he rose steadily and rapidly. 
He made many valuable improvements in machinery. In 
1847, he became a partner in the company. From that 
time his business career has been upward and onward. 
The hands and brain of Mr. Caiscpbell have been cease- 
lessly at work, and with large results in many directions. 
And now, in his advancing years, he has the joy to know 
that his ample fortune has been won by honest labor of 
head and hand, Avithout a stain on his character or reputa- 
tion, and with a full discharge of his duties to employes, 
to community, to family and to country. 

Mr. Campbell has given much attention to agriculture. 
A fine farm is attached to his residence, and he has 
imported and raised some of the best stock — Ayrshires, 
Durhams and Alderneys. His herd of Ayrshires is the 
best in the country. His stock has often won for him the 
first prizes at State and county fairs. 



b8 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Mr. Campbell married, in 1833, the lady whose virtues 
and whose pleasant ways cheered him during his long 
years of toil, and who still presides over his household, A 
large family of sons and daughters have grown up around 
him ; his eldest son is Consul at Bayonne, France. The 
residence of the Senator is on an eminence far back from 
the road, in the centre of fine and variegated grounds, and 
overlooking a wide and lovely landscape. The rooms are 
high and large, the hall and staircase of unusual breadth 
and sweep, and all around are memorials of his mother- 
land. 

Mr. Campbell was a Whig, afterward a Republican, 
and always a devoted son of his adopted country. As 
Supervisor of Whitestown and member of the War Com- 
mittee of Oneida county, he worked with all his might 
during the war and for the war. His liberality Avent 
forth in every conceivable direction. We had intended to 
give his benefactions, so far as known to us, but the list is 
too long ; we have no room for it ; and a statement of 
what we know Avould do but partial justice to an open- 
handed patriotism most rare and honorable. The Union 
party shoAved their sense of his nobleness in this regard 
by appointing him a Delegate to the Convention, at Balti- 
more, which nominated Mr. Liiccolx for his second term, 
and by the large majority which sent him to the preced- 
ing Senate. The manner of his nomination was very 
complimentary. Dr. L. W. Rogers, of Utica, a man who 
knew him well, prefaced the presentation of his name to 
the Convention by the following address. 

" Mr. President — I rise to name a candidate for Senator, who is 
well known to the members of this Convention — sa favorably 
known that he needs no word of eulogy from me. He is a man of 
large experience in business, and well acquainted with the wants 
and condition of the district ; a Democrat in the true sense of the 



SAMUEL CAMPBELL. 69 

term, "who sympathizes with tlie common people, and aims to 
improve and elevate them; a patriot, who stood by the country in 
her day of trouble, laboring withX3ut ceasing, and contributing 
Avithout stint to furnish troops for the Union army, and to support 
our brave soldiers in the field ; a man Avhose character for personal 
and political integrity is without reproach and above suspicion ; a 
large-hearted, liberal gentleman, whom none know but to love, 
none name but to praiser— Samuel Campbell, of Whitestown." 

The strong sense of Mr. Campbell soon mastei-ed the 
details of a Senator's duty; and, in his quiet, unobtrusive, 
but effective way, he has accomplished all that he or his 
constituents desired. His dischai-ge of the duties of his 
position was so satisfactory to the Republicans of the dis- 
trict that liis name was unanimously j^resented by the 
nominating convention, and he was re-elected in 1867. 
His integrity was so entirely unassailable and unques- 
tioned, that he was selected by the presiding officer of 
the Senate for the important, responsible and delicate 
position of the Chairmanship of the Railroad Committee. 
He will stand the ordeal safely. There Avill not be even 
so much as the smell of fire on his garments. The 
attention is naturally drawn to him as he sits in the Sen- 
ate, and the eye of the stranger lingers on the fine head, 
flowing beard, white hair and bright, cheery face, sur- 
mounting the broad shoulders and stalwart frame of 
Samuel Ca:mpbell. 



WILLIAM GAULDWELL. 



William Cauldwell, Senator from the Ninth District, 
was born in New York City on the 12th of October, 1824, 
and is consequently in the 44th year of his age. His 
father was a native of Scotland, and his mother, like him- 
self was born in the metropolis. Like so many men who 
have carved out by personal industry and indomitable 
will, a reputation, and secured a competence, Mr. Cauld- 
WELL had only the benefits of a common school education. 
Early in life he began to learn the trade of a printer ; and 
this, probably as much as anything else, was the basis of 
his future success. He is now one of the editors and pub- 
lishers of the New York Sunday Mercury, one of the most 
widely circulated journals in the L^nion, having become 
connected with it in 1850. 

Senator Cauldwell has always taken an active interest 
in politics, and yet has often refused many offers of politi- 
cal advancement. A resident of the town of Morrisania, 
in Westchester county, he has aided in making it one of 
the most prosperous and noticeable places in the State. 
For eleven consecutive years he has been its Supervisor, 
chosen often without opposition, and always by an over- 
whelming majority. He has also taken a deep interest in 
the cause of public education, serving for nine or ten years 
in the board of education of his town. In short, his name 
is connected with almost everything pertaining to the 
prosperity of his section of Westchester, 

Mr. Cauldwell was presented for the position of State 
Senator last fall, not entirely with his own consent. But 
once nominated he entered into the canvass with spirit, 
and was elected by the largest majority ever before given 



ORLOW W. CHAPMAN. 71 

foi' any man in the district, which comprises tlie counties 
of Westchester, Rockland and Putnam, Mr. Cauldwell 
is and always has been a Democrat, and enjoys, in no 
restricted way, the confidence and esteem of his associates. 
Among the members of the Senate there are few who pos- 
sess a more practical mind, or bring to their aid a more 
extended experience. 



ORLOW W. CHAPMAN. 



Senator Chapman, representing the Twenty-fourth Dis- 
trict (Broome, Tioga and Tompkins counties) is one of 
the younger members of the Senate. His age is 35 years. 
He was born in Ellington, Connecticut, on the Yth of 
January, 1832. His father Calvin Chapman, was a 
farmer. Young Chapman, having acquired a good ordi- 
nary education at the Ellington Academy, struck out 
another path, and began by teaching a district school at 
Tolland, Connecticut, when he was 17 years of age; and 
during three succeeding winters he taught at East Long 
Meadow, Massachusetts. Entering Union College in this 
State as a sophomore in 1851, he was graduated with his 
class in 1854, though he had occupied a part of his time in 
teaching. Subsequently he was engaged at Fergusonville 
Academy, Delaware county, as Professor of Languages. 
In 1856, Mr. Chapman began the study of the law, with 
Robert Parker, formerly a partner of the Hon, Amasa J. 
Parker, and finishing his course removed to Binghamton, 
where he was wholly i;nacquainted, in 1858, and estab- 
lished himself in the practice of his profession. Among 
the men of talent and reputation practicing law in Bing- 
hamton at that time were Lewis Seymour, Giles W. 



12 LIFE SKETCHES. 

HoTCHKTSs, afterward member of Congress, and the late 
Hon. D. S. DiCKiNsox. The young lawyer rapidly gained 
position, and in the summer of 1862, in accordance with a 
Ijetition of the bar of Binghamton, he was appointed 
District Attorney, for the unexpired term of Geokge 
!N'oETHRUP, deceased. In the fall of the same year he was 
elected to fill the office, and in 1865 was re-elected, leading 
liis ticket. At the time when he was chosen Senator in 
November last, one year of his official term as District 
Attorney remained to be filled. Politically Mr. Chap3IAX 
has always been a staunch Republican. 

Mr. Chapman's time has been almost exclusively given 
to the duties of his profession, and to public duty ; but he 
has occasionally found leisure to engage in literary labor* 
While studying law he was chosen poet for the occasion 
of an anniversary celebration of the Zeta Phi Society of 
Delhi, and in 1866 was selected as orator by that society 
on a similar occasion. His oration was repeated by request 
in Delhi in 1867. He has also lectured at intervals before 
lyceums, &c., and for the benefit of schools. During his 
practice, he has been an occasional contributor of articles 
on political and other topics for the press. 

As District Attorney, Mr. Chapman's record was singu- 
larly good. His faithfulness and ability were conceded, 
and were conspicuously shown in many important cases. 
In an unusual number of these he was successful. Only 
two indictments found during his official terms were 
quashed. 

As a citizen and public officer Mr. Chapman enjoys 
universal esteem. He resides permanently in Binghamton. 

In the Senate he is chairman of the Committees on Liter- 
ature and Erection of Towns and Counties, and is also a 
member of the Committees on Claims and Roads and 
Bridges. 



THOMAS J. CREAMER. 



Senator Creamer is the youngest member of the present 
Senate, and, perhaps, the yonngest man that has ever held 
a seat in that body. He is of Irish descent, and was born 
on the 26th day of May, 1842, and is, therefore, in his 
twenty-sixth year. 

Mr. Creamer may truly be termed a self-made man, 
having, by his own energy and perseverance, worked his 
way to the present prominent position he occupies in the 
councils of the State without the advantasce of a collesfiate 
education, which many of our public men have had, and 
without even the privilege of a common school education, 
which most of the young men of the present time possess. 
He kas, nevertheless, by close application and untiring 
energy, fitted himself for the duties of the high position 
which he now holds, far better than most men upon whom 
a small fortune has been expended in academical training. 

At the age of ten years he left the public schools in the 
city of New York, and engaged as an errand boy in a dry 
goods establishment, where he remained several years. 

Few have ever started to fight life's battles at an earlier 
age, and few men have achieved the same success within 
such a short period. Mercantile life did not suit his tastes, 
and he resolved upon a change to that of a professional. 
The profession of law being more in accordance with his 
turn of mind, he applied himself diligently night and day 
to his studies, and at the age of twenty-one was admitted 
as a member of the New York Bar. Soon after this he 
commenced taking an active part in politics, and was 
elected a member of Assembly in the fall of 1864, polling 
10 



74 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the largest vote ever cast for a candidate in the district. 
In the Legislature of 1865, he took an active part in the 
debates on all questions relating to the city of New York, 
and delivered several able speeches in oj^position to the 
establishment of commission government. He served 
during that session on the Committees on Claims and 
Roads and Bridges. He was re-elected in the fall of 1865, 
by over 2,000 majority, and was one of the most active 
members on the Democratic side during the session of 
1866. He served on the Committees on Railroads, Claims 
and Engrossed Bills, and won for himself while a member, 
the friendship of even his political opponents by his 
straightforward and manly' defense of his principles. 
During that session he was a strong advocate of a 
change in our militia law, in order to place the old fogy 
generals on the retired list, and did more to bring about 
the desired change than any other member of the Legisla- 
ture. 

Mr. Ceeamer was re-elected in the fall of 1866 by 
an increased majority, no one in the district being willing 
to run in opposition to him. In the session of 1867 he 
served on the Committees on Insurance and on Privileges 
and Elections, and also was a member of the Grinding 
Committee. He was chairman of a committee to investi- 
gate the affairs of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, 
and made a very able report to the Assembly in connec- 
tion with the same. During the session he developed a 
talent as a legislator far better than at any former 
period, and was universally acknowledged as one of the 
most upright, efficient and caj^able members on the floor. 

Few men in the Assembly commanded that universal 
respect and confidence of all connected with the Legisla- 
ture as did " Tom " Ckeamer. During his career in the 
Assembly not a breath of suspicion has ever been raised 



THOMAS J. CREAMER. to 

against him — he has passed through all the temptations 
and trying ordeals of three sessions, and that too when, 
according to general report, corniption was the rule and 
honesty the exception. In the fall of 1867, Mr. Creamer 
was unanimously nominated by the Tammany Democracy 
of the Sixth Senatorial District, comprising the tenth, 
eleventh and seventeenth wards of the city of New York, 
and was elected by a majority of 12,500, the largest 
majority ever received by a Senator since the organization 
of the State, In the Senate he is a member of the import- 
ant Committee on Municipal Affairs, serving also on the 
Committees on Engrossed Bills and Grievances, and 
although the youngest man in that body he has already 
taken a j^rominent position, and is one of the most influen- 
tial members on the Democratic side. Mr. Creamer is a 
good general debater, and though not gifted with that 
plethora of language which characterizes many of our 
public men, yet he is possessed of those more essential 
qualities of a practical and successful legislator — a clear 
and attractive manner of j^resenting a question, concise 
and logical method of exposition, quickness of perception 
both as to his own position and opportunities, as well as 
those of his opponents. He is an argumentative and 
forcible speaker, carrying with him that earnestness which 
is almost certain of conviction ; has thorough knowledge 
of parliamentary rules, and a personal bearing to all with 
whom he comes in contact calculated to rally strong sup- 
port. He is a firm friend, adhering with great tenacity to 
those whom he classifies as his personal friends. Mr. 
Creamer is a member of the Tammany Hall General 
Committee in New York, and with the same care in the 
future as in the past, is destined to win still higher honors 
and wield an important influence in the politics of his city 
and State. 



76 LIFE SKETCHES. 

He is above the medium height, standing nearly six feet, 
slim built, and weighing about one hundred and sixty- 
pounds, dresses with scrupulous care and good taste, has 
dark brown hair, dark gray eyes, light complexion and 
gentlemanly manner. He is unmarried, but too young to 
be classified in the list of bachelors. 



RICHAKD CROWLEY 



Mr. Croavley is one of the youngest members of the 
Senate, and was elected to the place which he now holds 
in that body, before he was twenty-nine years old. He 
was born at Lockport, ISTew York, December 14th, 1836. 
His father and mother came to this country from Ireland ; 
they settled on a small farm, when Mr, Ckowley was ten 
years of age. His life, until he became twenty-one, was 
like that of most farmers' sons, of small means, made up 
mostly of working on the farm, during the summer 
months, and attending the common school in the winter 
season. As an exception to the above mentioned educa- 
tional advantages, he attended the Union school at Lock- 
port, two terms. During the years that he spent on his 
father's farm he had access to a tolerably good school 
district library ; and also studied Latin, and pursued a 
course of reading nnder the teachings of a friend. He 
had a great taste for history and biography, which he fully 
gratified. When he was twenty-one he left home and 
commenced his fight with the world. He worked his way 
to the West, as far as Kalamazoo, Michigan, and " hired 



RICHARD CROWLEY. Y*? 

oiit" to teach a country school, in an adjoining town. 
While thus employed, having purchased a copy of Black- 
stone's Commentaries, he devoted his spare hours to the 
study of them. When his school term expired, he ti*a- 
veled through several of the Western States, and then 
returned to Lockport. In the spring of 1857, he entered 
the law office of Gardner & Lamont, practitioners in 
Lockport, devoting a portion of his time, however, to 
general reading and the study of Latin, rhetoric and 
mental and moral philosophy. The succeeding winter he 
again engaged in teaching, in order to replenish his 
exchequer; and, in the spring, resumed his professional 
studies in the office of L. F. & G. W. Bowek, where he 
remained until 1861, when, having been previously admit- 
ted to the Bar in Lockport, he commenced practicing, 
after having formed a partnership with E. J. Chase, Esq., 
a brother of Hon, S. P. Chase. He was admitted to prac- 
tice in the Supreme Court of the United States in January, 
1865, Chief Justice Chase, presiding. Mr. Crowley has 
had entrusted to him many cases of imjiortance, concern- 
ing property and crime ; and has proven himself an able 
advocate and counsellor. Li early life he took a deep 
interest in political matters growing out of the repeal of 
the Missouri Compromise, and the Kansas and Nebraska 
agitation. The result of his reasoning was a determina- 
tion to attach himself to Republican princij^les. He has 
never before held any public office, except that of City 
Counsel for the city of Lockport. When first elected to 
the Senate, in the year 1865, his vote was very flattering, 
especially in the county of Niagara, wherein he received 
over four hundred more votes than any other candidate on 
either the State or county ticket, although some of the 
most popular men in the county were in nomination. He 
was re-elected in 1867, and was very properly honored by 



78 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the Lieutenant-Governor with the very responsible and 
arduous position of Chairman of the Committee on 
Municipal Affairs. No higher evidence of the value placed 
upon his character, integrity and ability could be given. 

Mr. Crowley has made achievements that are certainly 
remarkable. What he now is, cannot be due to ancestry, 
for like Cicero, when jeered at concerning his name, he 
has felt that he must make his own name, if he would have 
a place for it in the great hereafter. He is a living exemp- 
lification of the truth : " Perseverantia omnia vincit.^'' 
He is the son of a poor man ; by his own personal efforts 
he has risen from poverty to be an ornament to the 
Niagara Bar ; and the high esteem in which he is held, may 
well be envied by young men who have been surrounded, 
all their lives, by much more advantageous circumstances. 
As a speaker and debater he is far above mediocrity. His 
language is elegant and forcible, sometimes almost severely 
chaste, and his voice is distinct in utterance. 



LEWIS A. EDWARDS. 



Senator Edwards represents the First Senatorial Dis- 
trict. He was born on Gardiner's Island, in the town of 
East Hampton, Suftblk county, June 18, 1811, and is a 
direct descendant of William Edwards, one of the original 
settlers of the town, who came from Ipswich, Massachu- 
setts, about the year 1648. Mr. Edwards' educational 
advantages were limited to the ordinary disti'ict schools. 

In February, 1828, by the destruction of the homestead 
and effects of his parents by fire, he lost everything, except 
the clothes he wore. The effect of this disaster was to 
direct his steps toward the city of New York, where in the 
following spring he took the position of a grocer's clerk. 

In 1832, he was appointed collector of wharfage under 
the then existing firm of Wm. C. Tatlor & Co., and 
afterward under the late Michael Sandford. The man- 
ner in which he discharged his duties secured the hearty 
approval of all who were cognizant of his integrity, faith- 
fulness and energy. At the decease of Mr. Sais^dford 
in 1846, Mr. Edwards was intrusted with the closing up 
of the very extensive business affairs of his late employer, 
and has continued in the management of the affairs of 
this valuable estate to the present time. 

Mr. Edwards became the successor of Mi*. Sandford in 
the wharfage business, and in connection with his asso- 
ciates became the lessee of nearly all the wharves belong- 
ing to the coi'poration on the North river side of the city. 
And about this time he became considei-ably interested in 
the building and employment of vessels in the coasting 
trade. He prosecuted his business with tact and assiduity 



80 LIFE SKETCHES. 

until 1853, when, in consequence of nearly all the wharves 
having been leased by steamship companies, he abandoned 
the avocation and returned to Suffolk county, settling at 
Orient, a very pleasant place, situated near the eastern 
extremity of the north branch of the island. 

Mr. Edwards became associated, in 1861, with Messrs. 
Lawrence, "VVaterbury & Co., of New York, and com- 
menced the manufacture of fish oil and guano, on Long 
Beach, contiguous to Gardiner's Bay. Their works deserve 
more than a passing notice, being the largest of the kind 
on the Atlantic coast, giving employment (including fish- 
ermen) to sixty men. The oil is manuf;xctured from the 
menhaden or mopfunken, and as many as nine millions 
and a half have been worked up in one season by them. 
In 1866, Ml*. Edwards jiut up a branch manufactory on 
Hog Island, Hancock county, Maine, which Avas in opera- 
tion the past season. The successful management of such 
an extensive business demonstrates Mr. Edwards to be a 
man of peculiar and marked talent, enterprise and fore- 
sight. 

Mr. Edw^ards is a Democrat, and cast his first vote for 
A:s^DREW Jackson for President, and believes and has 
adhered strictly to the principle laid down by that states- 
man, that a man has not the right either to seek or decline 
office. He was placed in nomination for the office of 
Senator last fall against his wishes. He was elected by a 
majority of 3,836, to succeed Hon. N. B. La Bau, Repub- 
lican. Mr. Edwards is a man of unassuming manners, 
who attends to his duties as Senator quietly and with 
despatch. Although in his first term, and his only expe- 
rience in a legislative body, his long and varied business 
habits are a sufficient guarantee that he will, in due time, 
make himself acquainted with the ordinary routine of legis- 
lation, and commend himself as one who will be measur- 



CHARLES J. FOLGER. 81 

ably successful in all the practical duties of his position. 
He will never retard nor mystify the business of the 
Senate, by an undue indulgence in talk ; and hence, as a 
working, energetic, and cool Senator he will not be likely 
to o;et far astray. 



CHARLES J. FOLGER. 



Charles James Folger, Senator from the Twenty- 
sixth District, is a native of Massachusetts, in which State 
he was born on the 16th of April, 1818. His ancestors 
were sea-faring men ; masters of vessels sailing out of 
Xantucket, and his early boyhood days were spent in the 
wild and free associations of the coast life, which pos- 
sesses so much of romance and adventure. When he was 
a little*" more than twelve years of age, he removed with 
his parents to Geneva, in this State, where he has resided 
since, except when at intervals engaged in the study of 
law elsewhere. He entered Geneva College in 1833, and 
graduated in 1836, with the honors of his class. In 
October of that year, he commenced the study of the law, 
in the office of Mark H. Sibley & Alvah Worden, at 
Canandaigua. The influence of such a preceptor as Mr. 
Sibley, upon a mind so receptive and active as that of 
his young friend, could not fail to be beneficial, and, 
undoubtedly, a large share of the great practical success 
he has since attained in public life, is to be attributed to 
this association. He also read law in the office of Bowen 
Whitixg, at Geneva, and with John M. Holley, at 
11 



82 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Lyons. In 1839, he was admitted to practice at the Bar 
of the Supreme Court, General Term, at Albany, and 
in May, of the following year, entered upon the pursuit 
of his profession at Geneva. His advance was rapid 
and honorable. A fine personal presence, a studious 
analysis of all the rules and practices of law, a mind 
fully stored with classic lore, and with the very best 
productions of the jurists of all countries, and a persua- 
sive style of eloquence, were the elements of a sure and 
honorable promotion. In 1844, he was appointed — 
under the old Constitution — Judge of the Ontario Court 
of Common Pleas. He held that office for one year, 
and. discharged its duties with general satisfaction, and. 
then resigned. He was also Master and Examiner in 
Chancery until the Chancery Court was abolished by the 
adoption of the Constitution of 1846, In 1851, he was 
elected County Judge of Ontario county, and held that 
office for four years. In 1861, he was elected to the 
Senate, being re-elected in 1863, 1865, and again in 
1867. 

Mr. FoLGEE has acted with the Republican party from 
the period of its organization, and has always been a 
cons2)icuous and able defender of the principles it was 
established to maintain. His influence in his own par- 
ticular section of the State has contributed largely to the 
great popular j^i'edominance of Republican principles. 
Upon the Forum, through the Press, and as a Legislator, 
his voice has always been earnest for equal rights and 
justice to all. Almost nniformly chosen a rej^resentative 
in the State Conventions of his party, he has contributed 
largely to give shape to its general policy. His address 
as temporary Chairman of the Syracuse Convention in 
1865, will long be remembered by those who heard it, as 
a model of eloquence, vigor and terseness. 



CHARLES J. FOLGER. 83 

In the Senate, Mr. Folger is a recognized leader. His 
opinions are al^rays treated by that body with marked 
respect, and even when he is compelled to dissent from 
his peers in judgment, he receives from them the credit 
due to sincere convictions and great ability. As Chair- 
man of the Judiciary Committee, which he has held in the 
past and present Senates, much of the most important 
business of the Legislature passes through his hands ; and 
his extensive legal knowledge, his great skill in research, 
his wonderful powers of analysis, and his untiring indus- 
try, have made his services in this capacity of almost 
incalculable value. Without derogation of the claims of 
other gentlemen upon the Committee, it is safe to say that 
all will pronounce this tribute to his personal usefulness 
entirely just and deserved. 

The estimation in which Mr. Folger is held by his 
peers may be judged from the fact that during the session 
of 1865, he was unanimously chosen President ^jro tern., to 
serve during the absence of the Lieutenant-C4overnor, 
Hon. Thomas G. Alvord. This high compliment has been 
renewed at the opening of each succeeding session, and 
without a dissenting voice. Senator Folger was a prom- 
inent member of the recent Constitutional Convention, and 
was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of that body. 

The chief characteristics of Mr. Folger, as a Senator, 
are his great industry and his unbending integrity. He 
is thoroughly devoted to the duties of his position, and 
labors incessantly, both upon the floor and in committees, 
to jDerfect and elaborate legislation. The importance of 
this fact is best understood by those who know how great 
are his resources of legal lore. Nobody ever suspected 
him of favoring a bill or advocating a scheme from the 
impulse of selfish or mercenary motives. His mind is pre- 
eminently that of a statesman. He regards all questions 



84 LIFE SKETCHES. 

from the broad, general stand-point of public expediency 
and justice, and is able to bring to liis use the lessons of 
history and the experience of centuries in determining 
his own views. 

As a speaker, there are few among the many eloquent 
men in the State, who possess so much or siich varied 
jiower as Mr. Folger. He is a native orator, whose 
innate abilities have been wondrously increased by a 
thorough education and severe discipline. He never 
addresses the Senate without fixing its attention, and 
always utters ideas which are certain to illustrate the 
subject in hand. His wealth of imagery is sometimes 
surprising, and the readiness with which it is employed 
in giving charms to the most commonplace topics, makes 
him a most desirable ally and a formidable opponent. He 
is uniformly dignified and affable in debate ; but the tren- 
chant vigor with w^hich he disj)Oses of an antagonist is 
frequently inimitable. Never making speeches for "effect ;" 
always confining himself to the topic immediately under 
discussion ; and grouping facts, figures and fancies with the 
skill of a master, he has achieved a position beside the 
master intellects of the State, and will long be remembered 
after he shall have left the Senate Chamber, for — we 
trust — higher honors and richer spheres of usefulness. 

In personal appearance, Mr. Folger is commanding and 
graceful. His features wear the stamp of intellect, and 
advertise the gentlemanly suavity which is a predominant 
trait in his character. His voice has that peculiarly melo- 
dious inflection which is always ascribed as one of the 
graces of the native orator. He is cool and self-possessed 
under every circumstance, and never finds himself in a 
situation for which he has not adequate resources. Nobody 
would suspect him of having approached, within a decade, 
the forty-nine years he wears so well. 



HENRY WEBB GENET 



Senator Gexet was born in Wethersfield, Connecticnt, 
Febrnary 27th, 1828. His father was John M. Genet, a 
native of France, who came to America daring the 
troubles Avhich ensued upon the French Revolution. His 
mother was a native of Ireland, Avho emigrated to this 
country, in childhood. Mr. Ge:n-et, tlie elder, removed to 
Albany when his son was about one year of age, and 
went into commercial business, near the river. Henry 
attended school in Albany, for several years, and then 
taking a fancy for the life of an agriculturist, was placed 
upon a farm in the town of Moreau, Saratoga county, 
where he remained four or five years, diligently prosecut- 
ing his literary studies, during the winter months. "When 
about sixteen years of age, he left the firm, and entered 
the Glens Falls Academy, where he remained about a year 
and a half, Avhen he Avent to the city of Ncav York, AA^here 
his father was then residing. 

When about nineteen years of age, he entered the Uni- 
versity of the city of New York, at Avhich he remained 
tAVO years, and then entered the law office of Mr. HxVSTixgs, 
in that city, and was, in due time, admitted, finishing his 
preparatory studies in the office of McCuNisr & Moncriff. 
He was, in early life, an enthusiastic admirer of Henry 
Clay, and,' during the life of that great man, naturally 
acted with the Whig party. On the dissolution of that 
organization, he joined the Democracy, with Avhich he has 
ever since cooperated. In 1857, he was elected on the 
Democratic ticket to the Board of Councilmen from the 
Twelfth Ward of Ncav York. The folloAving year he Avas 



86 LIFE SKETCHES. 

elected Alderman, and re-elected two years after, being 
chosen President of the Board, during the last two years 
of his term. In 1861, he Avas elected to the responsible 
office of County Clerk, the duties of which he faithfully 
discharged during the years 1862, 1863 and 1864. 

During the three most important years of the war, 
viz.: the years ending January 1st, 1864, Mr. Genet, as 
President of the Board of Aldermen, was, ex officio, a 
member of the War Fund Committee, of which the Mayor 
of the city, and the President of the Board of Council- 
men, were also ex officio members. Every one remembers 
the coustanttlnd valuable aid rendered by this organization 
to the Xational Government, during the dark era of oiir 
history, and there was, on the Committee, no one who 
privately, or in his public caj)acity, was found more ready 
to support every measure dictated by patriotism, than Mr. 
Genet ; and his votes will always be found in favor of the 
most lavish support, in blood and treasure, of our threatened 
Nationality. 

Mr. Genet represented the 21st Assembly District of 
New York in the Assembly of 1866. He was closely 
attentive to the business of the House, and took interest 
in all matters of general legislation. His genial warmth 
won for him many friends, who sustained him in matters 
affecting his own district, in which he took a special and 
lively interest, resulting usually in success. He was a 
most efficient worker. He was elected to the Senate in 
1867, his constituents elevating him to a higher sphere 
in evidence of their appreciation of his services. Mr. 
Genet is a thorough politician, of potent influence, and is 
popular outside of his own party for his lack of narrow 
and exclusively partisan notions. 



WILLIAM M. GRAHAM. 



Senator Graham was bom in the town of Minisink, 
Orange county, September 8, 1819. His paternal ancestors 
came to this country from Ireland, while those of his mother 
Avere Holland immigrants. In his qualities of mind and 
person, he combines the excellent characteristics of these 
two nations. He has all the solidity, industry and j^er- 
sistence of the Hollander, with the genial warmth, unselfish 
benevolence and patriotic ardor of the intelligent Irish- 
man. He received an academic education at the Mont- 
gomery (Orange county) and Ridgebury (ISTew Jersey) 
Academies. 

Mr. Graham's business life has been confined to that 
of banking. He entered the Middletown Bank in 1841 as 
Teller, and in 1844 was made its Cashier. It was in this 
institution that he achieved a reputation as a financier of 
superior qualities — an inflexibly honest banker, and a faith- 
ful and laborious ofiicer. He necessarily acquired an inti- 
mate acquaintance Avith the business men of Orange and 
other counties, Avho were won by his courtesy and fair 
dealing, and esteemed him for his personal worth and 
capacities. After twenty years of faithful service in this 
institution, he was (in 1860) chosen President of the Wall- 
kill Bank, Avhich position he still holds, retaining the 
approval of all for his careful discharge of his responsi- 
bilities, his uprightness and sound judgment. 

Mr. Graham has but once before held public ofiice, and 
the large majority by which he was then chosen was prac- 
tical evidence of the appreciation in which he was held. 
In 1857, he was elected County Treasurer of Orange 
county, and re-elected at the close of his first term. Dur- 



88 LIFE SKETCHES. 

ing the six years that lie discharged the duties of the 
office, he showed himself not unworthy the trust reposed 
in him. He entered the canvass for Senator in 1867 
under serious disadvantages. The district in which he 
was nominated, and which he now rejDresents, had for three 
successive terms sent to the Senate Hon. Hexry R. Low 
(Avell known to many of our readers), the last time by a 
majority of 551. Mr. Low's jn-estige was, therefore, against 
Senator Geaham. The political revolution which swept 
over the State might not have carried with it men less 
known for sterling integrity and business capacity. But 
he was so strong in the confidence of the people that he gave 
additional impetus to tlie tide in his own district, and was 
chosen by a majority of 633. Mr. Gkaham is not a man 
who has either the disposition or the art of holding the 
Senate from the dispatch of business by fine forensic 
talent, but he has those other and higher qualities of a 
successful legislator — attentive apj^lication to business, 
discriminating perception, and careful, quiet and jiersistent 
management. His clear judgment is highly appreciated 
and sought after, especially on questions of finance. 
Lieutenant-Governor Woodford but gave appro25riate 
recognition at once to his powers and uprightness, when he 
placed him on two of the most responsible Committees in 
the Senate — those of Banks and Railroads. 

Senator Graham's private and social life adds to his 
honor. The friends of benevolent and humanitarian 
movements rely upon him as a wise counsellor and willing 
contributor. The sick and wounded heroes of the late 
conflict with armed treason, had their sufferings frequently 
relieved by his kind offices. He has always been a firm 
Democrat, but never a bigoted partisan. 



MATTHEW HALE, 



The original liead of the American branch of the Hale 
family was one Thomas Hale, who came to Newbury, 
Massachusetts, in 1635. Hon. Robert S. Hale, late 
member of Congress from the Sixteenth District of this 
State, is a brother of the Senator. 

Senator Hale was born at Chelsea, Orange county, 
Vermont, June 20, 1829. Going through a good academic 
course of instruction he entered the University of Vermont, 
and graduated at the age of twenty-two. He then com- 
menced the study of law with the firm of Kellogg & 
Hale, at Elizabethtown, Essex county, New York, and 
pursued his studies until he was admitted to the bar in 1853. 
Shortly after, in connection with a brother, he opened an 
office in Poughkeepsie, and commenced practice, soon estab- 
lishing a promising business. After a time this partnership 
was dissolved, and his brother removed to St. Paul. Mr. 
Hale then formed a new copartnership with Mr. A. B. 
Smith, of Poughkeepsie. This partnership existed for 
three years. While in Poughkeepsie Mr. Hale became 
much interested in politics, entering with enthusiasm 
into the first campaign of the Republican party, and made 
speeches in support of Feemoxt. 

In 1859 Mr. Hale was led to change the sphere of his 
professional labors from Poughkeepsie to New York city, 
forming a copartnership with Lot C. Clark, of that 
city. This business arrangement continued for five years, 
at the end of which time he removed to Elizabethtown, 
where he entered into a laAv partnership with Honorable 
A. C. Hand (whose daughter Mr. Hale had married), a 
12 



90 LIFE SKETCHES. 

lawyer of high distinction in that place, and R. L. Haxd, 
a son of the Judge. The Senator is still a member of this 
firm. 

The first political oftice ever held by Senator Hale was 
that of Supervisor of Elizabethtown, which he held during 
the years 1864, '65. In the Spring of 1867 he was with 
great unanimity selected as one of the candidates of the 
Republican party to represent the Sixteenth District in 
the Constitutional Convention. The Democratic party of 
the district nominated opposing candidates against the 
three other candidates on the Republican ticket, but con- 
strained by their high regard for Mr. Hale, and their 
confidence in his integrity and sound i^rinciples, they not 
only declined to nominate a candidate against him, but 
they indorsed his nomination and j^laced his name upon 
their printed ballots. In the Convention he was made a 
member of the Judiciary Committee. In this sphere of 
extended usefulness his enlarged ideas, his clear logical 
statements, his evident desire to establish sound principles 
regardless of mere partisan ends and aims, his faithfulness 
in labor, his ability as a speaker and his courteousness as 
an associate, all combined to make liim one of the most 
respected and admired members of that body, in which 
was comprised so many of the intellectually strong men of 
the Empire State. He did not speak often, but when he 
did, what he said had energy and force and was to the 
point. His speeches on the separate submission of the Suf- 
frage question and on the Judiciary article were most 
able efforts, and were listened to Muth the greatest 
interest. 

The fine reputation made by Mr. Hale in the Constitu- 
tional Convention, naturally led the Republicans of his 
district to make choice of him as a candidate for the ofiice 
of State Senator. This was done without his knowledge, 



MATTHEW HALE. 91 

and the announcement of the fact was to him a great sur- 
prise. He Avas elected by a majority of 1,436. He is a 
member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Chairman 
of the Committee on Claims. ^ 

Senator Hale does not descend to the low tricks of par- 
tisan warfare, but in the advocacy of such measures as he 
approves, relies upon argument rather than management. 
Such men do not seek office nor manipulate jJi'imary meet- 
ings, nor "run" conventions, nor make partisan bargains. 
The people respect them for their attachment to principle, 
and the bold and faithful advocacy of political doctrines 
to which they subscribe; and this respect impels them to 
put such men in office. Senator Hale has another charac- 
teristic of the high toned gentleman and the man of honor. 
He does not deal in personal abuse nor bandy partisan 
squibs ; there is no bitterness or biting sarcasms towards 
political opponents in his language. He is also conserva- 
tive in his views ; he is a safe man, and seldom or never 
does a rash or imprudent thing, or one out of season. His 
feirness and honorableness of word and deed to political 
opponents have elicited words of praise even from Demo- 
cratic organs such as the New York World, which most 
truthfully spoke of him as " one of the best men in the 
Convention," and characterized his speeches in that body 
as " amoncf the most interestins: made." 



JOHN F. HUBBARD, JR. 



Senator Hubbard was born in Norwich, Chenango 
county, October 14, 1822. His father, Johx F. Hubbard, 
Sr., who is still living at the date of this s-ketch, ably- 
represented the Sixth Senatorial District, under the pre- 
ceding Constitution, from 1828 to 1836. 

The present Senator received an ordinary academic 
education, and afterwards read law, but never entered 
upon the practice of the profession. 

After some years spent in editorial life, he received, in 
1847, from Hon. W. L. Marcy, an appointment in the 
War Department at Washington. He remained in that 
city, holding various subordinate positions in the Govern- 
ment service, until about 1854, when he resigned, and 
again took up his residence at Norwich. 

In 1860 he was chosen a delegate to the Democratic 
National Convention, held at Charleston, from the then 
Twenty-first District of this State, and participated in the 
proceedings of that body. 

In 1866 he was appointed Assessor of Internal Revenue, 
by President Johnson, for the Nineteenth District of New 
York, but not being confirmed by the United States 
Senate, his time as Assessor expired on the 4th of March 
following. 

In the fall of 1847, he was, unexpectedly to himself, 
nominated for the ofiice of Senator, to represent the 
Twenty-third District, and was elected by a majority of 
247 votes. His competitor was Hon. Daniel Waterbury, 
of Delaware county. At the same election the Republican 
majority on the State ticket in the district was 52 ; the 
year previous it was 1,421. 



WOLCOTT J. HUMPHREY. 93 

In politics Senator Hubbard is and has been all his life 
a decided Democrat. He is at present the editor and 
publisher of the Chenango Union, printed at Norwich, 
one of the best edited and managed country newspapers 
of the State. He is a careful politician, bold and undis- 
guised in his political sentiments, yet affable in his 
personal address. He is energetic and of sound practical 
talents, and gives every evidence of becoming a sagacious 
and successful lea'islator. 



WOLCOTT J. HUMPHREY. 



Mr. Humphrey is a gentleman who has had considera- 
ble experience in the political affairs of the State. For 
twenty years or more, he has taken deep interest in public 
matters, and has served the people in various positions of 
responsibility and trust. His ability and fidelity have 
been recognized by a re-election to the Senate, under 
circumstances which rendered it one of the highest expres- 
sions of confidence which can be given. A few days 
preceding the election, he was made the object of a mali- 
cious personal attack by a disapj^ointed legislative schemer, 
with the avowed purpose of defeating his re-election. The 
polls opened on election day, leaving him no defense 
against the trumped up charge of corruption other than the 
confidence of his constituents. It was under such circum- 
stances that he was again elected. The Grand Jury of 
Albany county heard the case after election, but as there 
was no evidence substantiatino- the charge aofainst him, 
dismissed the complaint and refused to find an indictment. 



94 LIFE SKETCHES, 

This suffices as a complete vindication. During the present 
session he is Chairman of the Committee on Commerce and 
Navigation, and a member of the Finance Committee, two 
of the best positions in the Senate. He is also Chairman of 
the Committee on Joint Library. 

Mr. Humphrey's birthplace was Canton, Hartford 
county, Connecticut. He is forty-nine years of age. His 
father, grandfather and great-grandfather were natives of 
the same town. The original head of the family in this 
country were two bi'others, who came from England, in 
the sixteenth century, and settled in Massachusetts. From 
them have descended the numerous branches of the family, 
which may now be found in every State in the Union. 

Mr. Humphrey's father concluded, in 1818, to remove 
from the locality where his family had dwelt for so many 
years, and decided to make the town of Sheldon, Genesee 
county (now Wyoming), his future home. This section 
was then the "far West," and when we consider the 
primitive facilities for travel which then existed — when 
the long, tedious journeys of the hardy pioneers were 
performed on horseback or in lumbering wagons — and 
Avhen it is known that his father had the good old- 
fashioned family of fifteen children to look after (after- 
w^ard increased to seventeen), it will be readily believed 
that the change was one requiring a good deal of New 
England grit and perseverance. But the exodus was 
accomplished, and a new scene opened in the lives of the 
whole family. 

Senator Humphrey's early education was acquired 
wholly in a common school ; but, by extensive travel 
through the States, and much mingling with the bustling 
business world — " keeping his eyes and ears open" the 
while — he has stored his mind with a large fund of practi- 
cal knowledge and information. When twenty years old 



WOLCOTT J. HUMPHREY. 95 

he entered the military service of the State ; and, in 1840, 
was elected Colonel of the 9th Regiment, 8th Brigade, 
New York State Artillery. In 1844, he resigned his com- 
mission and gave np all connection with military affairs. 
He married, in 1841, Miss Amaxda Martixdale, a daugh- 
ter of Major William S. Martixdale, of Dorset, Ver- 
mont, a lady of excellent domestic qualities. 

At different times Mr. Humphrey has held various town 
offices; and during the year 1850, was Marshal for taking 
the census in six of the tOAvns of his county. In 1849, '53 
and '60, he was appointed Postmaster, and, after serving 
awhile, as many times, resigned; his second resignation 
took place when Tyler proved himself recreant to the 
party with which he was identified. In 1850, he was 
elected to the Assembly, and was returned in 1851. His 
political talents and constant activity gave him a leading 
l^osition in that body. The latter term he served as 
Chairman of the Committee on Railroads, and reported 
the Central Railroad Bill,- authorizing the railroad con- 
solidation, and establishing the existing restrictions. He 
was also selected by the caucus to take charge of the Pro- 
hibitory Liquor Law passed at that session ; and he made 
an able speech in its behalf. 

Some time in 1855, Mr. Humphrey removed to Bloom- 
ington, Illinois, where he was instrumental in securing the 
return of the late Owex Lovejoy to Congress, against 
Judge Davies. He was, we believe. President of the 
Convention that nominated Mr. Lovejoy. After residing 
in Bloomington three years or thereabouts, he returned to 
Wyoming, and resumed business at Xortli Java, from 
which place he removed to Warsaw, in 1864, Avhere he 
now lives. During the war, he was enrolling officer for 
the government, and was mobbed, by foreign opponents 
of the draft, while in the discharge of his duties. 



96 LIFE SKETCHES, 

Mr. Humphrey was first elected to the Senate in 1865, 
from the Thirtieth District (Wyoming, Livingston and 
Allegany), by 5,240 majority over the late Judge Has- 
tings, of Livingston. An excellent j^osition was given 
him, on the committees, he being a member of the Commit- 
tees on Railroads, Internal Affairs and Printing, and Chair- 
man of the Committee on Roads and Bridges. He ranks 
as a faithful worker, and one of the best debaters among 
the non-speech-making Senators. His political views were 
Whig, so long as there was a Whig party, and he became 
a member of the Republican party when it was formed. 
He has been fai'mer, merchant, and tanner by turns, and 
is extensively engaged in the latter business at jjresent. 
He is a gentleman of fine presence, and great nervous 
energy, of warm friendships and good impulses, and pos- 
sesses talents of a high order, as a political organizer and 
an indefatisrable worker. 



GEORGE NELSON KENNEDY. 



George Nelson Kennedy, Senator from the Twenty- 
second (Onondaga and Cortland) District, is a native of 
Marcellus, Onondaga county. New York, where he was 
born September 11th, 1822. His paternal grandfather 
emigrated from Ireland in 1760, and his maternal grand- 
father was an immediate descendant of the Puritan set- 
tlers of New England. Both were active participants in 
the Revolutionary struggle, as soldiers in the army of the 
young Republic. His mother's grandfather was killed in 
the battle of Saratoga ; and both his grandfathers were 
also engaged in that conflict. His father, in early man- 
hood, removed to Mai'cellus, and was a farmer in moderate 
circumstances. In 1831 he removed, with his family, to 
Skaneateles, in the same county, where he remained three 
years, in order to give his children the advantages of the 
academy at that place. When George was eighteen 
years of age, he was thrown upon his own resources, and 
his fortune and honorable career have been achieved 
through his own unaided exertions. Throughout his life 
he has adhered strictly to the principles of honor and 
comity that mark the true gentleman, and has aimed to 
live for the good of those about him rather than for self- 
aggrandizement. 

Mr. Kennedy began the study of the law Avith Edmund 
AiKiN, a lawyer at Marcellus ; was admitted to practice 
in the Court of Common Pleas of Onondaga county, in 
1842, and to the Supreme Coui't two years later. He 
remained at Marcellus, engaged in the practice of his pro- 
fession, and doing an extensive business, until 1854-, when 
13 



98 LIFE SKETCHES. 

lie removed to the city of Syracuse, liis present place 
of residence, and entered into a law partnership with 
Charles B. Sedgwick and Charles Andrews, forming 
the firm of Sedgwick, Axdrews & Kennedy, which has 
been and still is a leading law firm in Onondaga county, 
and one of the foremost in the profession in the Fifth 
Judicial District. Mr. Kennedy has a prominent posi- 
tion at the bar of Onondaga county. He has been an 
active, energetic practitioner ; and to his credit, it is said 
by his professional compeers, that no more honorable 
adversary is found in the legal ranks of Central Xew 
York. He is able both as counsellor and as advocate ; he 
is a sound adviser in the office, and a strong, convincing 
speaker before the court and the jury. Since he has 
resided in Syracuse he has devoted himself assiduously to 
his profession ; and for more than half this period he has 
been engaged in a majority of the important legal contro- 
versies that have claimed the attention of the courts of 
Onondaga county. 

Mr. Kennedy cast his first vote for James K. Polk for 
President, in 1S44. Four years later he was a member of 
the Buttalo Convention, which nominated Van Buren 
and Adams as the Free Soil candidates. Subsequently he 
acted with the Democratic party until 1854, when he was 
among the earliest of those, who, impelled by a sense of 
duty and patriotism, disconnected themselves from that 
organization, because of its favoring the extension of 
slavery over free territory, and joined the Republican 
party, to whose princij)les he gave an earnest and efficient 
support, and with which he has since steadfastly acted. 
Until his election as Senator he held no public station. 
He had several times been j^ressed for nominations by his 
party, but waived his claims to subserve Avhat he deemed 
its best interests. For several vears he was at the head of 



GEORGE NELSOX KEXXEDT. 99 

the party organization in Onondaga Connty, holding the 
cliairmanship of the Republican County Committee, the 
duties of Avhich he discharged witli ability and thorough- 
ness, and thereby did much to secure the proud success of 
his party in that locality. AYhen a candidate for Senator, 
the best evidences of his personal popularity were afibrded 
in the A^ote he received, which was greater than that of his 
party for the State ticket in the Ward, City, and County 
where he resides. 

During the war to suppress the rebellion, no citizen was 
more earnest and laborious in prosecuting the work of 
raising troops for the Government, and in providing means 
of support for the families of absent soldiers, than Mr. 
Kenxedy. His voice was heard at the war meetings in 
city and country, and his means were liberally given to 
aid the cause of the nation. Few men who did not 
actually participate in the strife of the battle-field, did more 
for his countrj^ than he ; and his work was done without 
ostentation — his aid was extended without parade. 

Mr. Kenzs^edt has achieved a gratifying professional and 
pecuniary success. The practice of his profession, to which 
he is enthusiastically devoted, has secured to him a hand- 
some competency, and his other business operations have 
been uniformly successful. He has the proud satisfaction 
of knowing that he has been, in the fullest degi-ee, "the archi- 
tect of his own fortune." He possesses all the attributes 
requisite to the attainment of high success in legislative 
bodies. His ability as a speaker, his thoroughness as a 
business man, his uniform courtesy and manliness, com- 
bined with unremitting industry and rare energy, are 
qualities that indicate for him a bright and honorable career 
in the halls of Lesfislaticu. 



ABNER C. MATTOON. 



Senator MattoojST repi-esents the Twenty-first Senatorial 
District, composed of the counties of Oswego and Madison. 
He was born in Locke, Cayuga county, in 1814. Senator 
Mattoon's has been j^articularly an active business life. 
At quite an early age, he went to Rochester, where he 
remained until years of manhood, when he went to New 
York city and entered into commercial pursuits. His 
business in New York was of such a character as to 
require frequent trips to the then " far West," the Missis- 
sippi river being then considered in the same light by the 
pioneers, as the " Ultima Thule " of the ancients. While 
yet a young man, Mr. Mattoo^s^ spent several winters on 
the steamers of the great " Father of Rivers," and at the 
rarious towns which line its Avaters, advancing the inter- 
ests of the house he represented in the commercial 
metropolis. The time thus spent gave him an experience 
and a knowledge of business and men which has been of 
great use to him all his subsequent life. 

In 1844, Mr. Mattoon removed to the then village of 
Oswego, the jirincipal port upon the southern shore of 
Lake Ontario, Avith the prosperity and growth of which 
he has ever since been closely identified. From an unim- 
portant town, he has lived to see the village of his adoption 
expand into a point of great commercial importance, 
rating, in fact, in the year 1867, the sixth port in the 
Union in volume of receipts for foreign customs ; New 
York, Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New Orleans 
alone exceeding it. 



ABNER C. MATTOON. 101 

On removing to Oswego, Mr. Mattoon entered the 
employ, as agent and managing man, of tlie firm of 
Bronson & Crocker, at tliat time tlie oldest, and one of 
the most extensive and respectable commercial honses on 
all the northern frontier. Snbseqnently opening a com- 
mercial house of his own, he has ever since been very 
extensively engaged in the forwarding business, in grain 
dealing, in milling, boat building, and in kindred pursuits, 
his business relations extending to nearly all points in 
Canada, and to the extent of the great lakes west. 

Activity has always characterized Senator Mattoox in 
his relations to society. His • own city, during the last 
twenty years, has taken a leading position in educa- 
tional matters. The efficiency and success of its schools, 
and the excellence of its system of education, have given it 
a deserving prominence among all the cities of the Union. 
Senator Mattoo^t has been one of the most active members 
of the Board of Education of Oswego, almost uninterrupt- 
edly since its first organization. He has several times been 
its president. Through his efforts in the Legislature, an 
appropriation was obtained for the support of a " Train- 
ing School " for the teachers of Oswego, which has since 
srrown into a most flourishing and successful State 
Normal School, and which is educating and training 
hundreds of teachers annually to go out into the State and 
the Union, prepared to introduce and practice the latest 
and most approved methods of imparting primary instruc- 
tion. Of the local Board for the management of this 
school. Senator Mattoox has been from its organization 
one of the most active members. 

Senator Mattoo:n- was an early advocate of the temper- 
ance cause, and in 1854, when political action was 
proposed in his district, he was the temperance candidate 
for Member of Assembly, withdrawing, however, before 



102 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the election in favor of the Hon. D. C. Littlejoiix, the 
Whig candidate, who was elected. 

Senatoi* Mattooj^ has always been an active politician. 
In eai'ly life he was a Seward Whig. At the winding np 
of the aiFairs of the Whig party, Mr. Mattoon for a time 
was identified with the " Americans," and was their candi- 
date for member of Assembly in 1855, in opposition to Hon. 
Orville Robinsox, the Democratic candidate, who was 
elected and became speaker. 

Senator Mattoox, since its organization has been an 
active and influential member of the Republican party. 
He was an energetic supporter of President Lincoln's 
administration and of the war against rebellion. In 
1862 he was the Republican candidate of his district for 
member of Assembly and was elected. His experience 
and pursuits pointed him out as peculiarly fitted for the 
position, and he was made the Chairman of the important 
Committee on Commerce and Navigation. He was also 
upon the no less important Committee on Canals. Being 
re-elected the following yeai", he was awarded the position 
of Chairman of the Canal Committee, and was also upon 
other important committees. 

In 1867, he was nominated by the Senatorial Convention 
of the twenty-first District, and was elected by a very large 
majority over General Robert C. Kenyon the Democratic 
candidate. In the Senate he is Chairman of the Printing 
Committee, and also a member of the Canal and other 
committees. His Senatorial career bids fair to be an active, 
influential and honorable one. 



LEWIS H. MORGAN, 



This gentleman represents Monroe count}-, which forms 
the Twenty-eighth Senatorial District. He resides in 
Rochester, where he has long been regarded as one of the 
leading men in the higliest society of that intellectual and 
cultivated city. He is descended from New England 
ancestors, of whom those on his father's side settled in 
Massachusetts in 1636, and those on his mother's as early 
as 1631. His grandftither, Thomas Mokgax, w^as born 
in Groton, Connecticut, in 1742, from ivhich place he 
removed in 1792, with his family, to the Cayuga Lake, 
Avhere he established himself as a farmer, and w^here 
he died in 1815. His father, one of eight children, was 
eighteen years of age at the time of the western move- 
ment. The expedition of General Sullivax, in 1779, 
against the Seneca and Cayuga Indians, had attracted 
public attention in an unusual degree to the beauty and 
fertility of the lands in Western New York, and particu- 
larly of the inland lake region between the Onondaga and 
the Genesee, which led soon after to a large emigration 
from the New England States. The only roads Avest of 
L'tica were the Indian trails, and the only mode of emi- 
gration into the interior was by means of batteaux up the 
Mohawk, thence across the Wood-creek portage, into 
Oneida lake ; from which the outlets of the Cayuga and 
Seneca lakes were reached. At this time a dense forest of 
heavy timber overspread the entire region, in the subjuga- 
tion of which the first settlers were forced to contend 
with innumerable hardships. The rapid development of 
this inland lake region of Western New York, by the 



104 LIFE SKETCHES. 

hardy class of New England men who were the pioneers 
in its settlement, has hardly been surpassed in any of the 
newer States. As early as 1804 a newspaper was pub- 
lished at Aurora, Cayuga county, which at that time, as 
the seat of the Land Office, was one of the most important 
points in Western New York. As population advanced 
westward, this office was removed first to Canandaigua 
and afterward, we believe, to Batavia. With the comple- 
tion of the Erie canal, in 1825, Western Ncav York ceased 
to be a new country, and began in turn to furnish emi- 
grants to the Western States. There is no part of Amer- 
ican history more striking or more fruitful of suggestion 
than the great movement of population from New Eng- 
land westward to the Mississippi, during the fifty years 
between 1790 and 1840. The number of new States 
formed within this period, the cities and villages founded, 
the public works conceived and executed, and the com- 
merce inaugurated, in the brief space of half a century, 
are without a parallel even in American history. 

Senator Morga^q^'s father, Hon. Jedediaii Morgan, was 
bred a farmer, but engaged quite early in mercantile pur- 
suits. After his father's death, he became the proprietor 
of the homestead, near Aurora, and devoted himself 
chiefly to agricultural pursuits during the remainder of 
his life. 

Before the completion of the Erie canal, the market for 
farm products was limited. At an early day the farmers 
of Western New York devoted their principal attention 
to sheep culture as tlie most profitable staple they could 
produce. Wool was then worth a dollar per pound, 
Avhilst a bushel of wheat would bring but.half that sum. 
Flocks of twelve and fifteen hundred sheep for a single 
farmer, were not uncommon along the east shore of Cay- 
uga lake. With the completion of the Erie canal, grain 



LEWIS H. MOEGAX. 105 

became the staple of the farmer, and sheep culture 
declined to a subordinate position. 

In the year 1823, Mr. Jedediah Morgan was elected a 
member of tlie State Senate from the Seventh Senatorial 
District; in Avhich capacity he served in 1824, 1825, and 
1826, when his failing health admonished him to resign. 
He died at Aurora, December 10th, 1826. 

It was during his senatorial term that the "famous 
seventeen " removed De Witt Clinton from the office of 
Canal Commissioner. When the vote was taken but three 
Senators were found on the side of Clinton. McIntyre, 
Morgan and one other. In politics Mr. Morgan was 
a Clintonian, and a warm advocate of the Canal policy of 
the State. 

His son, the present Senator, was born November 21, 
1818. Wlien eight years old his father removed to the 
village of Aurora, where he resided until 1844, when he 
removed to Rochester. His education was commenced at 
the Cayuga Academy, located at Aurora, in which he 
remained until sixteen years of age, when he entered the 
law office of Daniel Wright, and studied law for a 
year; then entered Union College, and graduated in 1840. 
Resuming the study of the law in Rochester, he was 
admitted to practice in 1842, and commenced practice in 
Rochester in 1844, and continued in such practice for 
twenty years until 1864, when he retired from the pro- 
fession. 

With a well cultivated mind and a natural tendency to 
investigating and philosophical modes of thought, Mr. 
Morgan's attention was early called to the study of our 
native Indian .tribes, and especially of the powerful Six 
Nations, whose seat of empire was in Western and Central 
New York. He studied them carefully in their historical 
relations, and especially with reference to the structure 
14 



106 LIFE SKETCHES. 

and principles of their civil and domestic institutions. In 
the course of these studies he examined and surveyed 
many of the ancient traces of Indian occupation in the 
"western part of the State; and in 1848 he communicated 
to the Regents of the University a paper urging the form- 
ation of a museum of Indian antiquities, to illustrate the 
aboriginal era of our history, and to show the progress 
and condition of the Useful arts among the tribes. The 
earlier reports of the Regents upon the condition of the 
State Cabinet, contain several elaborate and fully illustra- 
ted papers from his pen, upon the ancient earth-works and 
modern arts of our Indians, and a large part of the col- 
lection of aboriginal utensils and relics in the State 
Museupi. was made by him. 

In 1851, Mr. Morgan published a volume entitled "The 
League of the Iroquois," in which he gave the matured 
result of long and careful researches into the true nature 
of the institutions, civil, social and religious, of that 
famous confederacy of tribes, whose history is so closely 
identified with our colonial annals. Of this valuable work, 
the North American Review, the higliest of our critical 
journals, said in July, 1865, in an article on the Indian 
tribes : " Among modern students of Iroquois institu- 
tions, a place far in advance of all others is due to Lewis 
H. MoEGAii, himself an Iroquois by adoption, and intimate 
with the race from boyhood. His work, Tlie League of 
the Iroquois, is a production of most thorough and able 
research. Though often differing widely from Mi*. 
Morgan's conclusions, we cannot bear a too emphatic tes- 
timony to the value of his researches." In the recently 
published life of Dr. Francis Wayland, long President 
of Brown University, we find a letter from that eminent 
scholar addressed to Mr. Morgan, in which he says : "I 
have just completed reading, for the second time, your 



LEAVES II. MORGAN. 107 

League of the Iroquois. I cannot forbear the pleasure of 
thanking you for it. It is the most remarkable book of 
the kind I have ever seen. * * * It is in all respects 
to me a most surprising book, and ought to be in every 
public library in the world. Men ought to know that 
such a race as this has lived." Fraxcis Parkmax, the 
brilliant historian of " The Conspiracy of Pontiac," " The 
Jesuits in North America," and other works of the highest 
character in our early history, bears equally empliatic 
testimony to the value of Mr. Morgan's book, to which 
he constantly refers as an authority of the greatest 
weight in all that relates to the Iroquois. 

Ill the course of his studies of the Indians, Mr. Mor- 
gan's attention was strongly drawn to their peculiar sys- 
tem of femily relationship, and to the terms which they 
employ in addressing their relatives and kindred. In pur- 
suing his investigations, he made long journeys to the 
West and visited the tribes of the Great Plains and of 
the Upper Missouri. He found everywhere among the 
aborigines a strongly defined and peculiar system of 
relationship, of which, in the course of his studies, he 
detected unn^istakable traces among the barbarian nations 
of the Old World. This led him to enter upon a series of 
investigations, extended to nearly every nation of the 
globe, by means of letters and carefully prepared circulars 
addressed to our missionaries and consuls in foreign 
countries. The results of this vast and laborious corres- 
pondence, which was carried on for many years, have been 
embodied by Mr. Morgan in an extensive and elaborate 
Avork entitled " Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of 
the Human Family," which the Smithsonian Institution has 
accej^ted, and has now in course of publication. A com- 
mittee of eminent ethnologists, to whom it was submitted 
for examination by the Secretary of the Institution, pro- 



108 LIFE SKETCHES. 

nounced it a work of great value, contributing original 
and important additions to the science of ethnology. 

While sojourning in the Lake Superior region, where 
he usually spends the summer months, Mr. MoRGA^f made 
a special study of the habits of the beaver, the result of 
which he has given to the public in a beautifully illustrated 
volume, entitled " The American Beaver and his Works," 
of which LippiNCOTT & Co., of Philadelphia, are the pub- 
lishers. The book adds largely to our knowledge of the 
natural history of this most intelligent and interesting 
animal, about which so many fables haA'e been related, 
and of which so little has been hitherto accurately known. 

In politics he was a Whig, until the formation of the 
Republican party, by the vote of which he was elected to 
represent the Second District of Monroe county in the 
Assembly of 1861. 

As a lawyer, Mr. Moega]!^, for nearly twenty years, 
stood high in his profession at Rochester, and having 
acqiiired an ample competence by its successful practice, 
retired from the bar to devote himself to scientific and 
literary pursuits. Socially and personally he is one of the 
foremost of the citizens of Rochester, where he is held in 
universal esteem for his fine talents, his scholarly acquire- 
ments and his spotless purity of character. 



LORENZO MORRIS. 



The name of Morris is one of the most familiar in the 
liistory of the government and public service of this State. 
It was borne by one of the most distinguished of the revo- 
lutionary associates of Washington, and has been promi- 
nent in many departments of action. In leading move- 
ments of progress, and in legislation, it has never been 
forgotten by the people ; and at this day it is identified 
upon the map of the State, by territorial designation, in 
that part of the State Avhere individuals of that name were 
best known, most cherished and honored. 

The present Senator from the Thirty-second District, 
Avas born August, 14th, 1817, at Smithfield, in Madison 
county. His father, David Morris, and his mother, yet 
live, in advanced years, in Chautauqua county. 

That corner of the State which a few years since seemed 
so secluded and remote — the county of Chautauqua — has 
taken and maintains high rank, having grown to opulence 
in the possession of whatever gives prosperity, and in 
political power it has, in the government both of State and 
Xation, made itself influential. But it had to pass, before 
attaining that eminence, through its wilderness age. 
When Senator Morris removed thither with his parents, 
it had those incidents of an American new land life, which 
determined to energy of character those who fixed their 
fortunes in its early day. Its education is only of the pro- 
ductive school, and mingled with it was the daily task of 
the culture of soil that, but a brief interval previous, was 
under the dominion of the Indian. 



110 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Senator Morris had the advantages of school and 
afterwards of academy, and while thus fitting himself for 
the more intricate j^roblems of life, he was engaged in that 
preparation of the country for all the purposes of civiliza- 
tion, which ill our American phrase, we call " clearing it." 
While thus educating both mind and body, he formed 
the friendship of the Hon. Emory F. Warren and the 
Hon. Thomas A. Osbork, with both of whom afterwards 
he connected himself professionally. 

The profession of the law, which in our country has 
such fiiscination for all men who study, and out of their 
study learn to reflect and reason, had its attractions for 
him, as he found real life coming out before him, and he 
devoted himself to it, and was admitted to practice in 
1841. 

Coming to the bar at a time when a Mulett, a Marvin", 
and a Burnell made the Chautauqua Bar one of the 
strongest and most eloquent in the State, he has reaped 
the advantages in pi-actice that observation and contact 
with great legal minds necessarily give, as is evidenced by 
his standing at the bar of his county where he is best 
known, and by his election from a district where the Dem- 
ocratic party have heretofore polled less than one-third of 
the popular vote. A few years subsequently, he removed 
to the county seat and made permanent place for himself 
in his profession. From 1854 to 1860, he was Postmaster 
of Fredonia. ^ 

His political judgment being with the opinions of the 
Democracy, he has shared the varying fortunes of that 
party. It was a test of no ordinary force to the political 
life, to be constantly surrounded by a powerful majority 
opposed to his opinions. It is honorable to the fidelity 
and ability with which Senator Morris held those views of 
public duty, that in the crisis and extraordinary circum- 



LOREXZO MORRIS. Ill 

stances of the election of 1867, his friends shouhl liave 
made liini their standard bearer, and the result fully justi- 
fied their judgment, as he was elected in a district then 
for the first time choosing a Democrat. 

Quiet and thoughtful, observing closely and proving his 
judgment in that way which is of all others the wisest, 
after practical waiting for evidence, Senator Morris at 
once becomes a valuable member of the Senate of New 
York. In that body he is a member of two of its most 
important Committees, those of Judiciary and Literature. 

It is a gratification to see the old names of the State 
reappearing in its annals. It has in it something of that 
steadfastness in which our institutions have been, it was 
feared, deficient ; nor is it the less interesting as found in 
this instance, in the representation of the most distant of 
our districts, Avhen in older days it was most intimately 
connected with those of the sea-board and i-iver. 



HENRY CRUSE MURPHY. 



Timothy Murphy, grandfather of the Senator, emigrated 
to America, from Ireland, in the year 1769, and settled in 
Monmonth connty, New Jersey, where he married Mary 
Garrisoist, granddanghter of Richard Hartshorne, of 
Middletown, for several years member of the Conncil, and 
Representative of the Assembly of that Province. On 
the breaking out of the Revolution, the above mentioned 
Timothy Murphy warmly espoused the American cause, 
and took up arms in defense of those principles which he 
cherished, and transmitted to his descendants. He left 
eight children, four of whom were sons, viz. : "William, 
John Garrison, Francis and Joseph. 

John Garrison Murphy married Clarissa Runyon, of 
Princeton, New Jersey, and settled, about the year 1808, 
in Brooklyn, where he died in 1854, in the seventieth year 
of his age, leaving two sons and four daughters. 

Henry C. Murphy, the eldest of these children, was born 
in Brooklyn in 1810, and has ever since been a resident of 
that city. After receiving a preparatory education, he 
entered Columbia College, from which he graduated in 1830. 
He then commenced tlie study of the law, with the late 
Peter W. Radcliffe, of NeAV York, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1833. In the year following, he married Miss 
Amelia Greenwood, daughter of RichxVrd Greenwood, 
of Haverstraw, Rockland county. New York. Though 
applying himself assiduously to the duties of his j^rofes- 
sion, Mr. Murphy found time to bestow on literary and 
political subjects, and was a frequent contributor to several 
periodicals of the day. He thus early became known in 



HENRY CRUSE MURPHY. 113 



political circles, in -which lie has since occupied a foremost 
position. . 

At the time Mr. Murphy entered public life, the-State 
of N"ew York had been long pursuing-, in regard to its 
moneyed interests, a policy which had placed the banks,, 
in every section of the State, under the control of petty 
monopolists, created by political favoritism. A convention 
of the young men of the day assembled at Herkimer, in 
1834, to which Mr. Murphy was elected a delegate. On 
its organization, he was appointed Chairman on Resolu- 
tions, and then, for the first time, exhibited that foresight 
and energy of character for which he has since been 
distinguished. He took occasion at once to introduce in 
the Committee, and subsequently in the Convention, a 
resolution denouncing the above policy, although the 
patronage which it created had been distributed for the 
benefit of his own party. Violent opposition was made 
to the adoption of the resolution, but it finally passed, 
with some modification. It was, however, never permitted 
to see the light, having been suppressed in the ofticial 
report of the proceedings of the Convention. Still it had 
its efiect. The fiict that the resolution had been sup- 
pressed, soon became known. The New York Evening 
Post, then edited by the late William Leggett, and 
many other journals, exposed the unfair proceeding, took 
up the doctrine, and gave it a strength and popularity 
which resulted, in a few years, in the utter prostration of 
the system of monopolized banking in the State of New 
York. 

Mr. Murphy was, soon after, appointed Attorney and 
Counsel to the Corporation of his native city, and, conse- 
quently, became familiar with the nature and operation of 
municipal corporations generally. In 1842, he was elected 
Mayor of Brooklyn. During his administration, he intro- 
15 



114 LIFE SKETCHES. 

duced a system of retrenchment, Avliich actually kept the 
expenditures of that city within its income. He com- 
menced this retrenchment by the reduction of his own 
salary. Before the expiration of his term of office as 
Mayor, he was elected member of the Twenty-eighth 
Congress, and took his seat accordingly in the House of 
Representatives, in 1843. Although one of its youngest 
members, he at once occupied a high position in that body ; 
and, on the Tariff question, advocated a system of duties 
for revenue purposes only, and thus incidentally indorsed 
the doctrine of free trade. 

On the question of the annexation of Texas, he was in 
favor of the measure, but advised its postponement, in 
order that Mexico might be afforded an apportunity to 
give her assent, and that more unanimity might be secured 
thereby in favor of it in the United States. In view of 
the events which have since transpired, the Avisdom of this 
recommendation must be admitted. On other questions of 
public policy, he took an equally prominent position ; and, 
with ability, opposed the alteration of the Naturalization 
Laws, and demonstrated the inconsistency of such a 
measure with the genius of our government, and its bad 
effects on the settlement of tlie public domain. For the 
splendid Dry Dock which has been constructed at Walla- 
bout bay, the port of New York is entirely indebted to 
Mr. Murphy's zeal and perseverance. 

The most notable position in State jjolitics which this 
gentleman has occupied, was that of member of the Con- 
vention which assembled in 1846, to frame a new Consti- 
tution for this State. Here he brought forward several 
important provisions, some of which were eventually 
incorporated into that instrument. His course on this, as 
on most occasions, met the approbation of his constituents, 
and on his return from the Convention he was again 



I 



HENRY CRUSE MURPHY. 115 

elected to Congress by the largest vote ever previously 
polled in his district. 

On the accession of Mr. Buchaxan to the Presidency 
Ml'. Murphy received the appointment of Minister to the 
Hague. Identified, as he had long been, with the efforts 
made to rescue from oblivion the early history of our 
State, 2:)articularly that portion of it Avhich relates to its 
first colonization by Holland, the selection elicited general 
approval. When the rebellion broke out, Mr, Murphy 
was still Minister of the United States to the Netherlands. 
It was exceedingly important at the time, that the govern- 
ments of Europe should be correctly informed of the 
precise fiicts of the case, and of the real relation of the 
States to the Federal Government, in order that foreign 
powers might readily see and adhere to their well-estab- 
lished line of duty. Accordingly, Minister ]VIurphy 
addressed to the Government of the Netherlands, an 
elaborate exposition of that relationship, and clearly 
i:)ointed out the absolute supremacy of the General Gov- 
ernment in all matters committed to it by the Constitu- 
tion, and the equally absolute rights of the States over 
all matters not delegated to the United States by that 
instrument. He seized the opportunity to show, at the 
same time, that the rebellion owed its origin chiefly to 
sectional hate and the ambition of the leaders. This paper 
was printed at length in the Diplomatic Correspondence 
of 1861 and 1862, and was highly praised by men of 
all parties. Upon his return to the United States, he 
announced his determination to uphold the National flag 
against secession, and was immediately elected to the Senate 
of the State as a Union man. At the State Convention of 
the Democratic party, in 1862, he was chosen temporary 
Chairman, and insisted that all citizens, without distinc- 
tion of party, should support the Administration in 



116 LIFE SKETCHES. 

putting down the rebellion. In the annual oration before 
the Tammany Society, on the 4th of July, 1863, he took 
no less patriotic ground in behalf of the Union. Indeed, 
he was no less zealous in acts than in Avords ; for mainly 
by his exertions, the Third Senatorial Regiment — the 
159th New York State Volunteers, Colonel Molineux — 
was raised, and the bounties paid to the men, without 
calling ujion either the State, city or county authorities for 
that purpose. Such, in brief, is the history of his action 
in regard to the rebellion. 

Mr. Murphy has been elected four times to the Senate, 
for successive terms, and is now in his seventh year of ser- 
vice in that body. He has taken a conspicuous part in 
all important debates and discussions, and particularly 
distinguished himself in his efforts to repeal the bill in 
regard to ecclesiastical tenures, and to establish the quar- 
antine in the lower bay of New York — measures which 
he successfully carried through. He also was in favor of 
sustaining the different internal improvements throughout 
the State, without regard to the section Avhere they were 
proposed, provided they contributed to the general pros- 
perity. Having always been a strict constructionist, Mr. 
Murphy voted against ratifying the Amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States abolishing Slavery. He 
holds that, as the Federal Government is one of delegated 
powers exclusively, and as the subject of slavery was not 
embraced in the Constitution, and was to be disposed of 
only by the States where it existed, the power of amend- 
ment is necessarily limited to the subjects embraced in the 
Constitution, and does not legitimately apply to that of 
abolishing slavery. 

Senator Murphy is the acknowledged representative of 
his party in the Senate. In 1867, he received the nomina- 
tion for United States Senator from the Democratic 



HENRY CRUSE MURPHY. 117 

members of the Legislature. He was a leading member 
of the Constitutional Convention just held, and took 
prominent part in all its proceedings. 

In debate, Senator Murphy always speaks extempora- 
neously ; in argument, he is close and logical ; in manner, 
earnest and apparently severe; and, when he warms to 
jiis subject, history, precedent and analogy, all seem to rise 
unbidden to fortify the positions he assumes. In private 
character, he possesses, in an eminent degree, all the 
essential elements of a liigh-toned and honorable gentle- 
man ; and no public man has, probably, passed thus far 
through the trying ordeal of a legislative career, so entirely 
free from the taint of corruption. Though eminently a 
practical man, taking a deep and active interest in public 
aifairs — a man of the people — he is a scholar, " and a ripe, 
good one." To the gratification of this taste, Mr. Murphy 
has given much of his time and means. During his travels, 
at home and abroad, he has accumulated one of the finest 
private libraries in America, and possesses the full power 
to appreciate and enjoy it; and however much he may win 
honor and fame as a public spirited citizen, or a successful 
political leader, his claims as one of the literati can never 
be lost sight of, and will constitute his most enduring 
fame, Mr. Murphy's contributions to literature are of a 
very valuable character, and include a number of trans- 
lations from the Dutch language, of which he is a perfect 
master. 



k 



ASHER P. NICHOLS. 



Henry Ward Beecher, in one of his literary lectures, 
made the assertion that a peculiarity of Yankee blood was 
that it ran to brains. The remark betrays the Beecheriax 
vanity and class pride, and yet there is much force in it. 
The descendants of the Puritans, as a race, are probably 
ahead of all others in natural intellectual powers and 
capacities. One need hardly refer to census reports or 
statistical tables to convince himself that a very large 
shai'e, at least of the intellectual men of our country, are 
of New England birth or parentage. In this connection 
it is interesting to note the fact that a large niimber of our 
State Senators are of New England biith, and that 
Vermont can claim the honor of being the native place 
of five of them. Of these five. Senator Nichols is one. 

Mr. Nichols Avas born in Whiting, Addison county, 
Vermont, and is fifty-two years of age. Having obtained 
an excellent education, he commenced the study of law 
with Judge Clinton, at Buftalo, in this State, to which 
place he removed in early life, and where he now resides. 
He is one of the first lawyers of that city, and is greatly 
respected and esteemed. At one time he was a law 
partner of Judge Clinton. At present he is associated 
with jNIr. RoBBiNS, of that city, and the firm of Nichols 
and RoBBiNS has a high standing at the Buffalo Bar. This 
is all we have been able to learn of his personal history. 

Senator Nichols ever since attaining his majority, has 
acted Avith the Democratic party ; but he has not been a 
managing politician nor a party operator. Like many other 
people of New England birth, he does not think it honor- 



ASHER P. NICHOLS. 119 

able or manly to seek office. His whole course in respect 
to politics lias been that of disinterested attachment to, and 
support of, political principles involved in National, State 
and Municipal governments. By no other person could 
have been uttered with a better grace the declaration, Avhen 
expressing his surprise to the Committee that waited on 
him to inform him of his nomination for the position he 
now holds, that " I regard it at all times an honor to serve 
the people, but have certain peculiar notions on the subject. 
But it has always been my belief, that when the people really 
desired the services of an individual in any capacity, they 
would make their wishes known, in which case it would 
become the duty of the man honored by their choice to 
throw aside all personal preferences, and devote himself to 
the public interests. Therefore I feel honored that you 
have selected me for this important nomination, which I 
gratefully accept.'' 

He has never before this held any political office. He 
was elected to represent the thirty-first Senatorial District 
by a majority of 1521 over James Sheldox, Republican. 
In 1865, a Republican Senator was elected by a majority 
of 743. He is a member of the Committee on Canals. 

Senator Nichols, though a staunch Democrat and no 
trimmer, is not a rabid partisan. He does not, as some do, 
give all his mind to politics, for, beside his law business, 
he has a love of general literature. He is pleasant and 
easy, and yet dignified in his manners, and has the highest 
esteem and confidence of his associates. 



JOHN I. NICKS. 



Senator Nicks was born at Rhinebeck, in Dutchess 
county, in the year 1822. He is of English descent. At 
an early age he was left to fight his own way through life. 
His advantages of early education were extremely limi- 
ted ; a few months in the rude common school of the day 
was all that he enjoyed. A necessity more immediately 
pressing, than a brilliant, or even an ordinary education, 
made imperative demand on his time and energies. He 
must work — and so was apprenticed with Messrs. Neak 
& Hendricks, at Red Hook, New York, to learn the art 
and mystery of a tobacconist. He afterward, before he 
was of age, carried on a little business in that line, in 
Brooklyn, from whence he removed to Ithaca. At this 
latter place, he was, for some time, foreman of a large 
tobacco factory, and also carried on business for himself 
In 1847, he removed to Elmira, at which place there was 
then no establishment of the kind. Mr. Nicks' resources 
were small, and he opened business in a modest way ; but 
constant success, from the fii'st, attended his enterprise. 
For years past, his business has been larger than that of 
any similar establishment in Southern New York. 

Mr. Nicks early took a jDrominent interest in politics. 
The first political office held by him was that of Supervisor 
from the Second Ward in the village of Elmira, in 1851, 
having been chosen by the Whig party. He was after- 
ward, for several terms, chosen Trustee of the village, also 
member of the Board of Education, and Chief Engineer of 
the Fire Department. In 1864, Avhen Elmira was made a 
city, he was the candidate of the Republican party for 



JOHN I. NICKS. 121 

Mayor, but fiiileJ, by a few votes, of an election. In 18G5, 
his name was again used, and his election secured by an 
unprecedented majority. In 1866, he was re-elected by a 
handsome vote, in spite of very determined opposition. 
His term expired in March, 1867. In the prompt, 
intelligent and satisfactory discharge of the duties of 
]\Iayor, he has displayed his marked executive talent. 
Under his administration, numerous reforms and improve- 
ments have been inaugurated, until the business matters of 
the city have been reduced to the same thorough system 
which ever characterizes the prudent management of his 
private aflairs. 

In 1862, when the present internal revenue system was 
inaugui-ated, Mr. Nicks was appointed by President 
Lincoln to the office of Assessor for the Twenty-seventh 
District of Xew York. To the management of this office 
he brought the same characteristic ability which has 
marked his discharge of every public as well as private 
duty. Out of chaos he produced system and order, and 
ranked, at Washington, among the best officers of his 
class in the country. No decision of his was ever over- 
ruled by the Department. The duties of this office he 
was quietly pursuing when Mr. Johnson commenced his 
gyrations " around the circle." Mr. Nicks, like hundreds 
of other Republican office-holders, was true to principle. 
He kept on the even tenor of his way, pursuing precisely 
the same course which he would have pursued under ordi- 
nary circumstances. He neither courted martyrdom nor 
hid from the wrath of the " powers that be." In August, 
1866, after the adjournment of Congress, the Republicans 
of Elmira invited their able and faithful Representative, 
Hon. Hamilton Ward, to address them on the political 
issues of the day, at Ely Hall. Over this meeting Mr. 
16 



122 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Nicks was invited to preside. On taking the chair, 
among other remarks he made the following : 

"Ladies AND Gentlemen: — You are all aware that I am now- 
filling a small office in the gift of the Grovernment. But if to hold 
that office I must sacrifice my princiisles, I say begone with the 
office. I say to you, and desire it may be heard and understood 
throughout the length and breadth of the land, that principle is, 
and ever should be, above office. When I, in my boyhood, learned 
to love that great man, Henry Clay, I was taught by him that it 
was ' better to be right than President.' I say to you, ladies and 
gentlemen, of this platform sent forth by Congress, that in looking 
it over carefully, I feel that I can indorse every word of it. I feel 
that it is asking but little of those men who have combined to 
destroy our Government to submit to the policy of Congress. I 
care not for the position in which this may place me, so long as 
I feel that I am acting upon principle, fearless of all considera- 
tions." 

This was but a few days before the Philadeli^hia Con- 
vention. Within a week, the head of Assessor Nicks 
rolled in the basket. On the evening of the day of the 
telegraphic announcement of this fact, the Republican 
citizens of Elmira, to the number of three or four thou- 
sand, marched with music and banners, to the residence 
of the Mayor, and saluted him in honor of his adherence 
to principle. The demonstration was a spontaneous and 
heartfelt expression of popular sentiment. A few days 
afterward, when the office of Senator for the Twenty- 
seventh district was made vacant by the resignation of 
Canal Commissioner Hatt, the public voice suggested 
Mr. Nicks as his successor. In the nominating Conven- 
tion, held at Corning, each delegate from Chemung, 
Steuben and Schuyler, as his name was called, rose in his 
place and designated him as the candidate of their choice. 
The nomination thus made was ratified by the people, by 



MICHAEL NORTON. 123 

a larger majority than was ever before received by any 
candidate in the district. 

In the last Senate Mr. Nicks served on the Committees 
on Canals, Grievances and Retrenchment. He was 
renominated and re-elected by a flattering vote. He 
serves the present term on the Canal Committee, and as 
Chairman of Roads and Bridges, and Poor Laws. 

Aflable, attentive to his duties, wise and firm in his 
course and judicious in his management — these are the 
characteristics which have made Senator Nicks strong 
with the people and with his associates. 



MICHAEL NORTON, 



Senator Norton is the representative of the Fifth Dis- 
trict, and in every particular is a self-made man. His 
career shows what a man with little or no advantages can 
accomplish, with energy and determination. 

Mr. Norton was born in Ireland, on the 25th day of 
December, 1837. His parents came to this country when 
he was only about five months old, became residents of 
the city of New York, and lived there until their death. 
He is entirely self-educated, never having attended school 
over six months. His parents being in moderate circum- 
stances, he was obliged at an early day to earn his own 
living. He has had a varied life, but yet active, and 
has seen the world in a variety of phases. Possessing 
a strong practical turn of mind and an excellent memory, 
life has been a school from which he has drawn far more 



124 LIFE SKETCHES. 

knowledge than others would gain by close study. He 
commenced working out when but eight years old, his 
first situation being in a crockery factory, where he remained 
three years. At the age of eleven he went into the employ 
of Swift & Co., sugar refiners, where he remained five 
years. He then engaged on the ocean steamer Atlantic, 
of the Collins line, as a mess boy, and made six trips 
across the Atlantic in that capacity. At the expiration 
of his service on that vessel he learned the cooper's trade. 

In 1861 he enlisted in the volunteer service and was 
elected Captain of Company D, of the 25th Regiment. 
He was mustered in the service in May of that year, thus 
being one of the earliest to respond to the call of the 
country. While in this service he received the news of 
the death of his father and the severe illness of his mother. 
This threw the care of his father's family upon his shoulders, 
and compelled him to resign his position in the army and 
return to New York, which he did in November of that 
year. 

In 1862, he ran for Alderman in the Third Aldermanic 
District. There were four Democratic candidates running, 
and Mr. Noktok was second in the ra^e, being defeated 
by John T. Henry. He was again a candidate in 1864, 
and elected; was re-elected in 1866, and still holds his 
position, his second term expiring on the 1st of January, 
1869. Since he has been a member of that board, he has 
served on some of the most important committees, having 
held the position of Chairman of the Committee on Streets, 
of Lamps and Gas, and of the Joint Committee on 
Accounts. He has also been a member of the Committee 
on Finance, and Wharves and Piers. 

In political affiliations, he is identified with Tammany 
Hall, and connected with both the ward and general 
committees of that organization, at the present time head- 



MICHAEL NORTOX 125 

ing the delegation from the eighth ward in the General 
Committee. He is an active worker in his party, and 
generally acknowledged as one of the strongest men in 
the organization of that ward. 

Mr. NoRTOx is a man of strong practical common sense, 
and knows how to make his knowledge of politics available. 
Few men of his education can compare with him in his 
control of men to carry his points. In securing his nomi- 
nation for the position of Senator, he exhibited this talent 
to a degree seldom equaled, even by those who profess to 
be experienced political tacticians. He makes no preten- 
tions to speech-making, and is a man of few words. His 
district comprises the Eighth, Ninth, Fifteenth and Six- 
teenth wards of New York, a district in which the 
Republicans have more strength than any other in the city. 
He ran on the Tammany nomination, with Charles Blau- 
VELT, as the Mozart candidate, and two Republican 
candidates against him. The result at the time of his 
nomination Avas considered doubtful, but he came out of 
the conflict with seven hundred and thirty-three more votes 
than received by all his competitors combined. 

In personal appearance, he is a man above the medium 
size, stout, muscular and powerfully built, with smoothly 
shaven face, brown hair and florid complexion. 



JOHN O'DONNELL. 



Senator O'Donnell is a native of Fort Ann, \yash- 
ington county, New York, where he was born in 1827. His 
father was born in Irehmd and his mother in America. 
In early life he removed to Lyme, Jefferson county, and 
in 1849, settled in Lowville, Lewis county, where he now 
resides. Here he commenced trade, as a general merchant ; 
and, by earnest and careful attention to business, gradually 
extended his means, and acquired the confidence and 
respect of his fellow citizens. He subsequently purchased 
largely of real estate, in the most central and eligible 
points for business in the village, and erected large and 
commodious blocks of buildings, extending along both 
streets, which have added greatly to the business facilities 
of the place. Within a year or two, he has withdrawn 
from trade, as a successful merchant. Senator O'Doxneli. 
is known at home, as a man of great energy and persever- 
ance, and seldom undertakes an enterprise without carry- 
ing it through. 

In 1864, he was on the Republican State Committee, 
and was a delegate to the Baltimore Convention, which 
renominated President LiisrcoLic. In the same year he 
was elected to the Assembly from Lewis county. In that 
body, he served as Chairman of the Committee on the 
Internal Affairs of Towns and Counties, and was noted 
for the diligent attention he bestowed upon the inter- 
ests of his constituents, and upon all measures for the 



I 



JOHN o'donnell. 127 

jDublic Avelfare. He obtained, in various appropriations 
for Lewis county, for building a bridge, lock and dam, 
on Black river, and for the improvement of Beaver 
river, over fifty thousand dollars ; also, secured the 
passage of an act removing the Court House from 
Martinsburgh to Lowville ; and was the author of an 
act of great importance to the dairy interests of the 
State: — "To protect butter and cheese manufactories." 

In 1865, he Avas elected Senator for the Eighteenth Dis- 
trict (Lewis and Jeiferson), in the place of Hon. James A. 
Bell against Andrew Cornwall, the Democratic candi- 
date. He was Chairman of the Senatorial Committee upon 
Internal Aliairs of Towns and Counties, and a member of 
the Committee upon Insurance, and upon Public Expendi- 
tures. Mr. O'DoNNELL reported the Xew York Excise 
Bill, and was active in securing its passage through the 
Senate ; he was the author of the bill to protect " Primary 
Meetings, Caucuses and Conventions of Political Pai'ties ; " 
also of the bill to divide the safety fund of $80,000, remain- 
ing in the Bank Department, among the bill-holders of 
the Lewis County, Yates county, and Reciprocity Banks, 
resulting in a payment of nearly fifty per cent to the bill- 
holders. During the campaign of 1866, he was very active, 
and spoke some forty times, at political meetings, held by 
appointment of the State Committee. During the session 
of 1867, Senator O'Donnell introduced a measure distin- 
guished for its originality and for its success in the Legis- 
lature. It was known as the " O'Donnell Railroad Bill." 
It provided in the place of State aid to individual roads, a 
general plan by which the State should aid any steam rail- 
road in the State — out of the county and city of New 
York — that should build and complete in good running 
order, twenty miles of road, where a parallel road is not 
already built, or in jji'ocess of building, within an average 



128 LIFE SKETCHES. 

distance often miles thereof ; and that the Treasurer of the 
State upon the certificate of the State Engineer that the 
conditions had been complied with, upon the warrant of 
the Comptroller, should pay to the said road five thousand 
dollars j^er mile, for every twenty miles of road so con- 
structed. It was with difficulty that a report, even for 
consideration, could be obtained from the railroad commit- 
tee in the Senate. At the first a2:)pearance of the bill in 
committee of the whole but two Senators were in favor of 
it, but upon discussion it was regarded more favorably, 
and after repeated and exhaustive examination in debate 
upon the floor of the Senate it passed bj^ a large vote. 
Afterwards it passed the Assembly, but was vetoed by 
Governor Fenton. The success of this measure was 
justly regarded by the friends of the Senator, as flattering 
to his perseverance, and they are sanguine that it will yet 
become a part of the fundamental law of the State. 

The bills to extend the provisions of the Metropolitan 
excise law over the State, and the bill to suppress obscene 
literature, to j^rohibit the employment of railroad conduc- 
tors and other employes who use intoxicating liquors, as a 
beverage, were passed by him in the Senate, but failed in 
the Assembly. The Senator is the recognized champion 
of the temperance interest in the Legislature, and never 
fails to respond when that interest is before the Senate. 

Senator O'Donnell was re-elected to the Senate at the 
last election over Le-vvis H. Browjt by 1,647 majority. 
He is Chairman of the Commitee on Finance, or the 
Premier of the Senate, a position unanimously conceded 
to him by his associates, and by the party, as a reward 
for his fidelity to the interests of the State, and for his 
unbenduig integrity and honesty. He is also a member 
of the Committees on Printing, Privileges and Elections, 
and Public Health. 



JOHN o'DONlSrELL. 129 

The Senator is devoting his entire time this session to 
the revision of the Assessment Law, and if we may judge 
from his success in the i>ast, this great subject will be 
thoroughly mastered, and the State will have an assess- 
ment law that will deal justly with its citizens, in place of 
the miserable laws that now disgrace the State. 

As a public speaker, Senator O'Donnell is energetic, 
fluent and argumentative, seldom failing to fix the atten- 
tion of a political opponent, and always leaving the impres- 
sion, that he is correct and conscientious in his views. 



17 



ABIAH W. PALMER. 



There are some natures which have a magnetic power 
by which they attract to themselves the sympathies of 
acquaintances, irrespective of political tenets and social 
creeds. Whether they are favored with wealth or doomed 
to poverty, it seems to matter little, so far as the number of 
their friends is concerned. They go through life, making 
this man happy by a smile, that one joyful by a kindly 
word or act, and when thej^ pass out from the world, there 
is many a mourner for them who does not wear the insignia 
of sorrow, and yet who secretly murmurs a benediction 
over their graves, and consecrates a grateful memory to 
their good deeds. We are uttering no empty plaudit, as 
hundreds can attest, when we say that Senator Palmer 
belongs to this class of men. 

His father Abiaii Palmee, was a Captain in the army 
during the Avar of 1812. He was a man of wealth and 
influence, and was highly appreciated by a large circle of 
friends. 

Abiah W. Palmer, the gentleman whose name heads this 
article, was born on the 25th day of January, 1835, in the 
town of Amenia, Dutchess county, N. Y., on the old home- 
stead, which has for many years been in the possession of 
the Palmer family, and on which Mr. Palmer now resides. 
Both of his i:)arents died when he was still in his early 
childhood. He pursued his studies at the Amenia Semi- 
nary, and afterwards, at the Oneida Conference Seminary, 
in Cazenovia, with a view to a complete collegiate course. 
At nineteen, he entered the Sophomore class, at Union 
College; but in 1856 he was compelled by ill health to 

/ 



ABIAH W. PALMER. 131 

relinquish his studies, and to seek remedies at the Clifton 
Springs Water Cure, in which institution he remained 
during several months. Having been convinced that he 
needed a diiferent kind of treatment, he made arrange- 
ments for a protracted visit to Europe. Accordingly, in 
1857, he went to that country, whei'e he not only visited 
the cities of Great Britain and the Continent, but also 
availed himself of opportunities for acquiring a knowledge 
of modern languages. 

In 1859, Mr. Palmer returned from Europe, and 
resumed the management of his estate, in Amenia, paying 
particular attention to mining for iron ore, a large bed of 
that metal being on his lands. In the fall of that year, he 
was nominated for member of the Assembly, by the 
Republican party, and elected by a large majority, though 
the District had, hitherto, been closely contested by both 
parties. It will be perceived that Mr. Palmer entered 
upon his political career, when he was but little over 
twenty-four years old. Up to that period, his time had 
been spent either in school or abroad ; but we are not to 
suppose that he had formed no decided opinions relative 
to public affairs ; on the contrary, he had been among the 
foremost to indorse the enduring principles of universal 
freedom, which were confirmed in his mind by the contrast 
which was presented to his observation, while in Europe. 
Therefore, though among the younger members of the 
Assembly, he held an honorable and jjrominent place, in 
his official capacity ; and was respected because he had 
integrity sufficient to enable him to resist the overtures of 
corrupt schemers. The following year, he was unanimously 
renominated for the same office ; but, in conseqiaence of 
ill health, he was compelled to decline the nomination. He 
thereupon withdrew from politics, and gave his attention 
to business and the restoration of his health. 



132 LIFE SKETCHES, 

In 1865, he again accepted the nomination for the 
Assembly, and was elected by the largest majority ever 
given by his district. His talents were recognized, and he 
was appointed as a member of the Committees of Ways 
and Means, and Revision and Rules. While serving on 
the former Committee, his attention was called to the 
necessity of making provisions for the better accommoda- 
tion of the insane. He succeeded in effecting the enact- 
ment of a law authorizing the Governor to appoint 
Commissioners to select a site for a new asylum for the 
insane. The following summer, Mr. Palmer was 
appointed by Governor Fenton, as Chairman of that 
Board. He devoted nearly the whole of his attention, 
during the ensuing season, to the selection of a proper site, 
and strenuously urged upon the inhabitants, at different 
j:)oints, along the Hudson River, to make proposals for 
havino- the institution located in their localities. The city 
of Pouo-hkeepsie offered the most liberal and desirable 
inducements for the purpose in question ; and consequently 
the Commissioners decided to establish the asylum at that 
place. Thereupon, a splendid farm of two hundred acres, 
affording one of the most beautiful sites on the Hudson, 
was purchased, costing the city of Poughkeepsie and the 
remainder of Dutchess county |85,000. 

During that year Mr. P'almer was again renominated, 
but his delicate state of health compelled him to decline 
the candidacy. During the session of the Legislature of 
1860, he presented the report of the Commissioners rela- 
tive ta their action, and pi-ocured the passage of an act 
accepting the site, on the part of the State, and also an 
act for the establishment and organization of the Hudson 
River State Hospital for the Insane ; and secured an 
appropriation of $100,000, with which to commence work 
upon the building. Under this act he was appointed one 



ABIAH W. PALMER. 133 

of the Managers, on behalf of tlie State, for the consum- 
mation of the plans ; and was subsequently elected Pres- 
ident of the Board of Managers. This honor was justly 
deserved, for Mr. Palmer had initiated and done much 
towards perfecting one of the most benevolent and 
humane charities dispensed by the State of New York. 
In fact, the accomplishment of this beneficent purpose was 
the master-good which he desired to have conferred upon 
suffering humanity ; and he entered into the work, actu- 
ated by sympathy for the unfortunate and by motives of an 
exalted charity. The time will come when many, having 
emerged from the terrors of disordered minds, will have 
cause to be grateful for the impulses which prompted Mi-. 
Palmer in his devotion to this project. 

In 1867, Mr. Palmer was unanimously nominated as 
the Republican candidate for State Senator for the Elev- 
enth District, composed of Dutchess and Columbia coun- 
ties. The result shows his great popularity ; for although 
his district gave the Democratic State ticket, nearly two 
hundred majority, yet Mr. Palmer was elected by nearly 
seven hundred majority. In the Senate, he is Chairman of 
the Committee on Banks (Senator Palmer is now a bank 
president) and Charitable and Religious Societies, and is 
a member of the Committees on Municipal Affairs and 
Agriculture. 

Senator Palmer's mien is that of a true American gen- 
tleman. His features are clearly defined, and indicate the 
benevolence of his nature ; and his voice, almost always 
modulated to gentleness, is magnetic. He is esteemed by 
his colleagues in the Senate, as one of the most sterling 
men in the Legislature ; and it is with much pleasure that 
we improve this opportunity for paying tribute to a man 
whom we have learned to admire. 



ABRAHAM X. PARKER. 



Senator Parker was born in the year 1831, in Addison 
county, Vermont. Although his career has been brief, it 
has demonstrated that he is possessed of commanding 
qualities, and is destined to take front rank with New 
York's most honored and admii-ed sons. The branch of 
the fiimily from which he descended settled originally, 
before the Revolution, near Boston. He was educated in 
the St. Lawrence Academy, at Potsdam, and subsequently 
studied law for a year with Hon. Hexry L. Kxowles, of 
that place. In 1854, he attended the lectures at the 
Albany Law School, and was then admitted as Attorney. 
He subsequently practiced for six months in the office of 
Hon. Eli Cook and Freeman J. Fithian, then in the full 
tide of a large practice, at Buffalo, and was, for a con- 
siderable time, in the office of James Noxon, at Syracuse. 

Mr. Parker opened an office in Potsdam, in 1856, 
where he has since continued in the practice of his profes- 
sion. He is regarded as an eminently safe counsellor, and 
is an exceedingly effective practitioner at the bar. He 
enjoys the extensive practice such talents are sure to 
command. From the time of his location in Potsdam 
to the present, each yeai*, including that of 1856, has 
found Mr. Parker on the stump, a fearless yet discreet 
champion of the principles of the Republican party. He 
has never been anything else but a Republican. 

Mr. Parker was, for many years. Chief Engineer of 
the fire department of Potsdam, and a trustee of St. Law- 
rence Academy. He is President of the village, and has 
held the position several preceding years. He is a mem- 



ABRAHAM X. PAEKEK. 135 

ber of the local board of managers of the State Normal 
School, located at Potsdam. He was a Justice of the 
Peace from 1857 to 1861, when he resigned. In all these 
positions he has commended himself to his fellow-citizens 
by his able and laithful discharge of the trusts reposed 
in him. 

He Avas member of the Assembly in 1863, and, although 
a new member, was at once given the Chairmanship of a 
very important committee, that of Claims, and he fulfilled 
the delicate and responsible duties of the arduous position 
with signal credit. The following year he was re-elected, 
and was appointed Chairman of tlie Committee on Com- 
merce and Navigation, a position requiring a high order 
of talent, and the strictest integrity, and it found in Mr. 
Parker a man every way adapted to the place. He 
entered a special protest against renomination in 1865, but 
his constituents so highly appreciated his earnest and suc- 
cessful eiforts in their behalf, as well as the advanced 
position he held in the Assembly as a general legislator, 
and ready and effective debater, that he was renominated 
by acclamation. He was, however, compelled peremptorily 
to decline, by reason of business engagements. He was 
appointed Postmaster of Potsdam in the spring of 1865, 
and in the fall of 1866 was removed, for opposing the 
HoFFMAX and Prutx ticket. He was unanimously nomi- 
nated to his present position, and was elected by over six 
thousand majority. He holds the honorable positions of 
Chairman of the Committees on Insurance and Public 
Health, and is a member of the Committees on Railroads 
and Public Expenditures. He is one of the most reliable 
and useful members of the Senate, and is a man of acknow- 
ledged power and ability. During the canvass, the New 
York World well said of him, that he "was considered 
one of the most straightforward members during the ses- 



136 LIFE SKETCHES. 

sions of 1863-4. He is a zealoiis Eepublican, but free from 
bigotry. He was a candidate for Clerk of Assembly in 
1867, and received a large vote in the Republican caucus. 
He is an able, industrious and incorruptible Senator." 
This tribute from a political opponent is woi'th more than 
any commendation of ours. 



JAMES F. PIERCE. 



The Second Senatorial District is this year represented 
by a Democrat, in the person of James F. Pieece. He 
was born in Madrid, St. Lawrence county, on the 8th day 
of April, 1830, and is therefore about thirty-eight years of 
age. His jjarents were natives of New England. His 
father was a physician and a graduate of Dartmouth Col- 
lege, New Hampshire. 

Mr. Pierce at an early age prepared to enter college, 
taking the preliminary steps for a collegiate course in the 
St. Lawrence Academy ; but his health failing him he w^as 
compelled to abandon all ideas of a collegiate education. 
This proved a great drawback to his advancement and 
ambition. A few years of self-denial and careful attention 
to- his health, enabled him to so far regain it thaf he 
entered upon the study of law in the office of Judge 
Henry L. Knowles, of Potsdam, He remained there 
pursuing his studies about fifteen months, when circum- 
stances opened to him a wider field, and he was able to 
secui-e for himself better advantages, by going to the city 
of Troy, and entering the law office of Hon. Job Pierson 
and Wm. A. Beach, where his law studies were completed. 



JAMES F. PIERCE. 137 

He was admitted to tlie bar at Albany, in the year 1851. 
when only twenty-one years of age. 

After his admission it was discovered that a pulmonary 
difficulty was making- serious inroads upon his health, and 
there being a family predisposition in this dii-ection, after 
consultation with, and under the advice of some of our 
most eminent physicians, he sought the mild and genial 
climate of St. Augustine, Florida, where he remained 
three years. Sea bathing, with the balmy air of that 
locality, and such remedial agents as were prescribed by 
his physicians, had the desired effect, and he was restored 
to his usual health. While at St. Augustine, Mr. Pierce 
occupied an office with the Hon. Isaac H. Broxsox, now 
deceased, then United States Judge for the Eastern Dis- 
trict of Florida, whose friendship he retained np to the 
period of his death. Among the visitors to that section 
was Governor Marcy, whose acquaintance Mr. Pierce 
formed, wliicli grew into intimate personal relations. 
During the campaign which resulted in the election of 
Franklix Pierce as President, he took an active part on 
the stump and otherwise, and was a frequent contributor 
to the "Ancient City," the only Democratic paper pub- 
lished at St. Augustine. 

On his return from Florida, he again resumed the prac- 
tice of his profession, and in 1856 took up his residence at 
Canton, St. Lawrence county, the home of Silas Wright. 

At the hazard of paying Mr. Pierce an equivocal com- 
pliment, it may be said of him that he is by instinct a 
politician ; he early formed a taste for politics, and the 
excitement incident to political life has always had a charm 
for him. For years he was the regular delegate to the 
Democratic State Convention from his district, and in this 
Avay became intimately acquainted with the representative 
men of the party in the State, whose confidence he enjoys. 
18 



138 LIFE SKETCHES. 

At the commencement of the war, Mr. Pierce believing 
that the Union ought to be preserved, took an active part 
in raising troops, speaking in almost every town in his 
county, and taking hold with a zeal unequaled by few men 
in that locality. Mr. Pierce, however, remained faithful 
and unswerving in his adherence to his party and its 
principles, to which he has ever been warmly and devotedly 
attached. . In 1862, the party being in a hopeless minority, 
a Union ticket was formed, Mr. Pierce being placed on it 
as a candidate for County Clerk, on account of the work 
which he had performed, his activity in raising troops, 
and the interest which he took in the cause of the Union. 
A strong effort was made to defeat him, but he came out 
of the contest successfully, his majority being about one 
thousand. His appearance at the Democratic State Con- 
vention while holding that position, was hailed with a 
perfect ovation. The idea of a Democrat being elected to 
a county office in St. Lawrence county, was looked upon 
as a remarkable event, and the person so elected a curiosity. 

In 1865, Mr. Pierce removed to the city of New York, 
and there engaged in the j^ractice of his profession. Soon 
after this he was employed as counsel to the Merchants' 
Union Express Company, which position he still holds. 
In the fall of 1866, he took up his residence in Brooklyn, 
and in the fall of 1867, was nominated by the Democrats 
of the Second Senatorial District, a district which has 
heretofore been represented by a Rej)ublican ; and 
although comparatively a stranger in the district, he was 
elected by nearly four thousand majority. At the com- 
mencement of the present session, he was placed by the 
Lieutenant-Governor on the Committees on Commerce and 
Navigation, and Retrenchment. 

In person, he is above the medium height, slim built, 
straight and upright figure, large, full bluish gray eyes, 



CHARLES STANFORD. 139 

dark brown hair, and wears a moustache. He still bears 
the appearance of his former lung difficulties, and cannot 
be said to be a person of robust health. He is a person of 
cultivated manners, a clear head, fine social qualities, 
warm and sincere in his attacliments, calculated to make 
friends wherever he goes, and to become popular in the 
Senate. There was no person nominated for the Senate 
last fall who received so universal commendation from the 
press of all parties, as did Mr. Pierce. Tlie Republicans 
from his native county in several instances volunteered their 
services in his behalf, a fact that shows his personal popu- 
larity among those v/ho knew him the best. 



CHARLES STANFORD 



Senator Stanford was born on the 26th day of April, 
1819, in the town of Watervliet, Albany county, New 
York. His father, Josiah Stanford, a native of New Eng- 
land, early settled in that town. During his long life he 
was distinguished for his integrity, energy of character, 
and intelligence. He was both a farmer and contractor. 
He died in 1862, widely known and lamented. His 
mother, whose maiden name was Elizabeth Phillips, was 
a native of Vermont, and is still living, at the age of sev- 
enty-seven, and has a remarkably strong and vigorous 
mind. Of six sons, five are still living, three in Califor- 
nia, one in Australia, and one the subject of this sketch. 
After receiving a common school education, young Stan- 
ford further prosecuted his studies at the Prattstown 



140 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Academy, in Steuben county, and the Clinton Liberal 
Institute, in Oneida county. Leaving school, the future 
Senator devoted his time to the assistance of his father 
upon the farm, and in the jDrosecution of his various con- 
tracts. In 1844 he took a lai-ge contract upon his own 
responsibility, in the city of Albany, to grade the ravine 
then known as the Hudson street hollow. This enterprise 
proving a success, was followed by contracts upon the 
Pittsfield and North Adams, and the Hudson River Rail- 
roads. While engaged upon the Hudson River Railroad 
an incident occurred, bringing out the characteristics of 
the man and the qualities which have given him success 
in the world. Owing to sharp competition, the contracts 
were all taken low. After a partial performance, nearly 
all the other contractors abandoned their contracts and 
the railroad company informed Mr. Stanfokd that he 
would be permitted to abandon his. His reply was, " I 
take no contracts to throw up ;" and he finished his work, 
making a fair profit where the others predicted a loss. 

In 1850, he went to California, then just opening its 
gates of golden promise to the world. His brothers 
either accompanied or soon followed him. In connection 
Avith, we believe, three of them, he founded a commercial 
house, which soon rose to be one of the largest and 
wealthiest upon the Pacific coast. The firm of Sta:n^foed 
Brotheks, then first organized, still exists, the Senator 
remaining at its head. Neither disastrous fires, nor finan- 
cial panics, have disturbed its solidity, though a loser by 
both. It has established bi-anches in different parts of 
California. In 1859, in connection with two of his 
brothers, he established a large commercial house in Mel- 
bourne, Australia, and soon after, branches in Sidney and 
New Zealand. The trade of these several houses is very 
large. One of his brothers, the Hon. Lelmstd Stanford, 



CUARLES STANFORD. 141 

was elected Governor of the State of California, in 18G1, 
and held the office for two years. He is the President of 
the Central Pacific Railroad, now being rapidly con- 
structed, and soon about to form the extreme western 
link of the great chain of railroads across the continent. 

In 1854, the interests of his firm requiring that one of 
its members should reside near New York city, Mr. Stax- 
FORD returned to the State of New York, and, in 1861, 
took up his residence in Schenectady county, purchasing a 
large farm in the town of Niskayuna, where he has since 
resided. In 18G3, he was elected by the Republican party 
to represent his county in the Assembly. He was a 
member of the Committees on Public Lands and Public 
Printing. He was again elected in 1864, and was made 
Chairman of the resj^onsible Committee on Railroads. 
He was chosen a delegate to the Baltimore Convention in 
1864, and voted for the renomination of President Lin- 
coln. In the fall of 1865, he was prevailed upon to accept 
the Republican nomination for Senator of the Fourteenth 
District. This district was composed of Schenectady, 
Schoharie and Delaware counties, and, according to the 
previous elections, was largely Democratic. He was 
elected, however, by a majority of 1,614. This result 
was as gratifying to the friends of Mr. Stanford as it was 
unexpected to his opponents. During this campaign, 
he established the Schenectady Daily Union; he still 
remains its proprietor. It is one of the handsomest daily 
papers in the State, is conducted with enterprise and 
talent, having done much to change the county of Schen- 
ectady from one of doubtful politics to a Republican 
stronghold. 

Mr. Stanford rendered invaluable service to the State, 
in 1867, in his capacity as Chairman of the Senate Com 
mittee of Investigation into the Management of the Canals 



142 LIFE SKETCHES. 

of the State. The effective labors of that Committee are 
well known and need but a reference from us. To the bold, 
fearless and rigid scrutiny of Senator Stanford is the 
public indebted for the exposure of the nefarious frauds 
which have been perpetrated on the Canals of the State. 
He was nominated as an Independant Republican, for 
re-election, in a district considerably altered from the one 
in which he was originally elected as Senator the preced- 
ing term. The regular nomination was given to the 
Senator who had represented the greater portion of the 
district the previous session. Many of Mr. Stanfokd's 
friends, who had admired his upright course, deemed it 
due him that he should be returned, and due to the State 
that he should be placed where he could complete the 
work he had so successfully begun. He was therefore 
nominated and elected, receiving a liberal Democratic 
support. He is a strong Republican. 

Mr. Stanford is now in the prime of life. He is a 
man of robust and portly frame, fine presence, and an 
easy dignity of manner. In the Senate he is a working, 
rather than a talking member. He is Chairman of the 
Committee on Canals, second on Commerce and Naviga- 
tion, and a member of the Committee on Insurance 
and Retrenchment. In the preceding Senate he was 
a member of the Committees on Commerce and Navi- 
gation, Agriculture, and the Erection and Division of 
Towns and Counties, being Chairman of the latter Com- 
mittee. It need hardly be said that he is a man of strong 
common sense, great energy of character, firmness of 
purpose, and untiring industry. With him obstacles are 
the things to be surmounted, not hindrances to advance- 
ment. A conviction that a measure is right, secures for it 
his support ; and though the measure may, for the moment, 
be unpopular, his support of it is none the less zealous ; 



FRA^TCIS S. THAYER. 143 

he is willing to wait for justice. To his other qualities he 
adds an integrity that is unquestioned, and a jirivate char- 
acter above rejiroach. The schemes of corruption which 
are but too frequently the objects of legislative favor, find 
in Mr. Stanford neither advocate nor friend, as he has 
convincingly proven in his action in regard to canal 
frauds. Too rich to desire a bribe, and too honest to take 
one, he is a good ty2De of the public servant, whom the 
State can illy spare. 



FHxlNCIS S. THAYER. 



This gentleman, who rej^resents the Twelfth District in - 
the State Senate, comes of the old Massachusetts Puritan 
stock. His father came from the Bay State to Vermont, 
and in Dummerstown, Windham county, in the Green 
Mountain State, the subject of this sketch was born on 
the 11th of September, 1822. He is one of a family of 
eleven brothers and sisters. He lived in that county 
mitil he was nineteen years old, enjoying the ordinary 
advantages of education then usually falling to the lot of 
sons of that State. Here was ripened a rugged constitu- 
tion, and those habits of iu<lustry, thrift and good morals 
were formed which laid the foundation for future sti'ength 
of character and usefulness. At eighteen years of age he 
was elected captain of a military company, and held that 
position until he left the State. Up to nineteen years of 
age he had worked on a farm, and for a time was a clerk 
in a country store. In the summer of 1841 he came 
to Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer county, 'New York, where 



144 LIFE SKETCHES. 

his father had removed. He remained a few weeks here, 
and then went to Cambridge Academy, in the adjoining 
county of Washington, where he received instruction 
for four months, and acquired a fair education in all the 
English branches. 

In the winter of 1842, he taught school in the village of 
North Bennington, Vermont, and " boarded around" in the 
families of the scholars. In those days, no young man's 
education was considered " complete" without this expe- 
rience. In the spring of 1842, Mr, Thayer came to Troy, 
and was employed as a clerk in the flour store of Howland 
& Bills, the first year receiving only one hundred dollars 
and board. But he soon mastered the business, and his 
aptitude, discretion, foresight, judgment and business 
qualifications were of so high an order that he was 
admitted a partner in the firm at the end of five years, 
Mr. Thayer has remained in the flour and milling business 
ever since, being extensively and heavily engaged in the 
maniifocture of flour, and has acquired, as the result of 
good judgment and proper attention to business, a hand- 
soiTfe competency. His firm has from the first been one 
of the largest concerns in his line of business in the city 
of Troy. The brands of flour from his mills are widely 
known in the markets of the country as among the best 
known as Troy flour. 

Politically, Mr. Thayer was a Whig from first man- 
hood until the old Whig party had " outlived its useful- 
ness " and was mainly absorbed into the Republican 
organization. His first vote was cast for Heis^ry Clay, 
of whom he was a staunch supporter, in 1844. Since the 
formation of the Republican party, he has been one of its 
most ardent and unflinching members. Mr. Thayer has 
been several times a delegate to State and local conven- 
tions, but beyond this, he has steadily declined political 



FEAKCIS S. TUAYEE. 145 

honors, until his acceptance of the nomination for Senator 
in the fall of 1867, when lie was elected by 1,600 majority, 
running 532 votes ahead of his ticket in his own county. 

Mr. Thayee is a warm friend of the Canals of the State, 
and takes especial interest in the welfare of the Cham- 
jjlain canal. His marked integrity, sound judgment, 
practical knowledge, and unwavering support of whatever 
cause he espouses, will render his services of the most 
valuable character in defending, protecting and fostering 
in the Senate, not only the Canal interests of his constitu- 
ents, but also all others, whether of a local or general 
character, which may be affected by State legislation. 
Self-reliant, discreet, clear-headed, and with an unerring 
judgment, and a wide practical knowledge of public 
interests and public wants, he Avill prove a most valuable 
member of the Senate, no less than a prominent and influ- 
ential associate in the leading counsels of the Republican 
party of the State. 

Senator Thayer is Chairman of Committees on Manu- 
factures and Public Expenditures, and a member of the 
Committees on Canals and Public Buildins^s. 



19 



WILLIAM M. TWEED. 



f^r 



Were we called upon to select from among the many- 
able and distinguished men in the Senate the most 
remarkable man of them all, we should, unhesitatingly, 
name William M. Tweed. Not that he would be picked 
out as such by a stranger, visiting the Senate Chamber. 
There are others who would undoubtedly be awarded the 
meed of superiority, as they would certainly be entitled 
to it, in regard to a number of the qualities that enter into 
the character of an able, eloquent, laborious and influen- 
tial Senator. Nevertheless, the capacities of Mr. Tweed's 
mind are so peculiar and strong, and his achievements so 
marked and unusual, that we are justified in setting him 
down as the most remarkable man in the Senate. 

Mr. Tweed was born in New York city April 3d, 1823. 
Both his father and mother were of Scotch descent. The 
former was born in New York city and the latter on Long 
Island. He commenced preparation for active life by 
studying law, and graduated at the Law School of the 
New York University. He was for a number of years 
extensively engaged in the manufacture of chairs, but is 
now practicing law. 

jNL, Tweed's first ofiicial position, Avas that of Alder- 
man of the Seventh Ward, New York city, which he held 
in 1852 and 1853. The following year he was nominated 
and elected to the Thirty-third Congress, and held a seat 
in that body in 1855 and 1856. He was School Commis- 
sioner of the Seventh Ward in 1856 and 1857, evincing a 
warm interest in the cause of education, and excellent 
judgment, and was very successful in the management of 



WILLIAM M. TWEED. 147 

schools under his charge. He has been a Supervisor of the 
city of New York since 1856, and has been Chairman of 
the Board. In all these positions, Mr. Tweed has shown a 
keen insight into the motives of men, ready tact in mould- 
ing them to his purposes, and singular power as an organizer 
and director of legislative bodies. He has been Deputy 
Street Commissioner of New York city since 1861, and 
gives to the position untiring industry, wise direction and 
stirring energy. He was elected to the pi-esent Senate by 
a majority of about twelve thousand, where he maintains 
fully his reputation as a superior parliamentary leader. 
As a member of the Committee on Finance, his experi- 
enced counsels are invaluable. 

But it is not with Mr. Tweed, principally or chiefly as a 
successful officer, that Ave have to do. He stands unsur- 
passed as a political organizer. He has held, since 1861, 
the Chairmanship of the Tammany Hall General Com- 
mittee, an organization than which there exists none more 
powerful, compact and overshadowing. Its sway cannot 
be successfully resisted in the city of New York, either in 
the Democratic party or out of it, and it wields a powerful 
influence in State and National politics. Its plans are 
admirably laid and thoroughly executed. Mr. Tweed is 
the executive head of this organization. We need bring 
no other fact than this to fully justify our opening remark. 
The man who can maintain himself at the head of Tam- 
many Hall, as its acknowledged leader, must be a 
remarkable man. A casual observer would fail to perceive 
in Mr. Tweed the elements of his success. His rotund 
corpulent form, quiet movements, and not extraordinary 
countenance, give no evidence of superior talent. But 
behind that unimpressive exterior there is both an engine 
and an engineer of motive and guiding powers unsur- 
passed. It may be difficult to designate the true secret of 



148 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Mr. Tweed's great success as an organizing politician. 
His intellect is quick and active ; his perceptive faculties 
are very keen ; he has rare discrimination in the choice of 
his agencies, and is ever true to his engagements and loyal 
to his friends. He is magnanimous to a fault, where 
magnanimity is appreciated, and unrelenting to those who 
insist on his hostility. He seeks the advancement of 
young men, and chooses wise and experienced counsellors 
as his intimates; his temperament is of the nervous, 
sanguine order, which knows no faltering nor doubt, and 
he is sagacious, cool and determined. 

These are some of the characteristics which place Mr. 
Tweed in the front rank as a remarkably effective 
organizer. We believe we will not be regarded as over- 
estimating the man by those who know him best. 



JAMES B. VAN PETTEN. 



Senator Van Petten was born June 19th, 1827, in 
Sterling, Cayuga county. New York, and graduated at 
the Wesleyan University, in the class of 1850. Before the 
war he was well known as the ver}^ successful Principal 
of Fairfield Seminary, one of the oldest and most popu- 
lar institutions of the State. Though a literary man 
and practical educator, he was always public spirited and 
much interested in national affairs. During the adminis- 
tration of Polk and Pierce he belonged to the Democratic 
party, but broke from it on account of its pro-slavery ten- 
dencies, and supported John C. Fkemoxt for President. 
Since that time he has been identified with the Republican 
party. 



JAMES B. VAN PETTEN. 149 

In the Spring of 1861 he resigned his position as Princi- 
pal of Fairfield Seminary, and went to the field as Chap- 
lain of tlie Thirty-fourtli New York Volunteers. In this 
capacity he not only gained the reputation of a faithful 
chaplain, but evinced a decided military spirit, and in his 
brigade and division was known as the " fighting parson." 
He remained with the Thirty-fourth Xew York Vohinteers 
until the Fall of 1862, and was with it at Fair Oaks and 
in all tlie marching and fighting on the Peninsula until 
the Second Bull Run. He then accepted the position 
of Lieutenant-Colonel of the One Hundred and Sixtieth 
New York Volunteers, and went with his regiment on the 
" Banks Expedition," to the Department of the Gulf In 
three weeks from the time he entered the department, the 
Colonel of the regiment went on detached service, and he 
was left the permanent commander of that brave and distin- 
guished regiment for two years. He participated with it 
in every expedition and important battle in the Depart- 
ment of the Gulf, and was often noticed in the public 
prints and commended in orders, for superior gallantry 
and merit. He distinguished himself in the Gotten and 
Bislen affairs ; in the assault on Port Hudson on the mem- 
orable 2'7th of May and the bloody 14th of June, 1863; 
and again, on the Red River Expedition, in the severe 
engagements of " Sabine Cross-roads," " Pleasant Grove," 
"Mansusa," and "Carre River." In the summer of 1864, 
he shared in the perils and achievements of the most bril- 
liant campaign of the war, that of Sheridan in the Shen- 
andoah Valley. At the battle of Winchester, on the 19th 
of September, he was severely wounded, early in the day, 
but wath characteristic fortitude and resolution, remained 
on the field until the battle was won. This he did against 
the advice of his generals and to the admiration of the 
brigade. For this he received the warmest commendation 



150 LIFE SKETCHES. 

of Generals McMillen, Emoky and Sheridan, and was 
recommended for the commission of Brigadier General. 
In the Fall of 1864, while home on account of his wounds, 
he received a staif appointment from Governor Fexton", 
which he did not accept, as he preferred to remain in 
active service until the war was over, and took the 
colonelcy of the One Hundred and Ninety-third New York 
Volunteers and returned to the field. With this regiment 
he joined the army of the Shenandoah, commanded by 
Brevet Major-General Toebert. From this he was trans- 
ferred to the Department of West Virginia, commanded 
by Major-General Emory, and assigned to the command 
of the District of Cumberland, with headquarters at 
Cumberland, Maryland. Subsequently he was assigned 
to the command of the District of Harper's Ferry, West 
Virginia. His services were recognized at Washington ; 
and in March, 1865, he was commissioned Brigadier- 
General by brevet, for gallant and meritorious service. 
During the Summer and Fall of 1865 he was in the 
Department of West Virginia, and in command of the 
District of Cumberland. He remained in the military ser- 
vice until February 10th, 1866, and then returned to the 
position he occupied before the war, as principal of Fair- 
field Seminary. 

He has the reputation of an accomplished scholar and 
eloquent speaker. Though a clergyman and educator by 
profession, he early acquired a ci'itical knowledge of the 
fundamental pi'inciples of law, and is well qualified for 
the position he now occupies. Senator Van Petten is 
Chairman of the Committee on Militia and on Internal 
Affairs of Towns and Counties, and is a member of the 
Committees on Literature and Engrossed Bills. 



STEPHEN K. WILLIAMS. 



\ 



Senator Williams was born in Bennington, Vermont, 
May 9th, 1819. His father, Richard P. Williams, M. D., 
emigrated to what is now the village of Newark, then new 
and unsettled, in Wayne county. New York, when the 
subject of our sketch was four years of age. 

Mr. Williams early evinced that aptness and proficiency 
in his studies, which have been so characteristic of him 
throughout his after life. During his boyhood he was 
studious and reserved, reading much, particularly history 
and biography, being far in advance of most boys of his 
age in his studies. For this, he was indebted much to the 
kind attentions of his father, who taught him during his 
evenings. Owing to his thorough preparation for a col- 
legiate course, and evident maturity of qualification, the 
faculty of Union College in his case varied the rule requir- 
ing the applicant for admission to be sixteen years old, and, 
at the early age of fifteen, admitted him to the Sophomore 
Class, Avith which he steadily advanced until he graduated 
with marked distinction, in the year 1837. 

After a few months travel in the Eastern and Southern 
States, having chosen the profession of the law, he com- 
menced the study of it in the ofiice of Judge Sherwood, at 
Newark, Wayne county, and finally completed his prepar- 
atory reading in the ofiice of the Hon. George H. Mid- 
DLETON, late of Syracuse, and was admitted to practice in 
the year 1842. He at once entered into copartnership 
with Judge Middleton ; and his success as a practitioner, 
was marked and continuous. In some respects his first 
business connection was a fortunate one. Judge Middle- 



J 52 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Tox, was a man of much more than ordinary caliber ; he 
was a thorough scholar, possessing a fine judicial mind, 
and an able and effective advocate. But the multi- 
farious and confining details of the office business were 
particularly distasteful to him, and to these, from necessity 
as well as from choice, Mr. Williams applied himself with 
tireless energy. With such zeal and earnestness did he 
prosecute his laboi-, that, for weeks together, all through his 
professional life, his lamp might be seen burning almost 
into the small hours, night after night, thus laying the 
foundation of the success which has since crowned his 
professional labors. A few years was sufiicient to make 
him known as one of the leading lawyers of his district. 

As a student, he was laborious, indefatigable ; as a law- 
yer, scrupulously fixithful to the interests of his clients, and 
untiring in the advocacy of their claims ; and despising 
the mere trickery by which too many of the profession are 
willing to gain temporary forensic triumphs, he acquired, 
with the bench, a high reputation for candor and frank- 
ness as well as legal attainments ; and with the Bar, the 
character of a fair, courteous and gentlemanly prac- 
titioner, whose professional reputation was a guaranty 
against chicanery. 

Mr, Williams has always been an earnest and a consis- 
tent politician, believing in human progress and the doc- 
trine of the equal rights of all, and has made it the object 
of some of his leading eflbrts, to advocate the extension of 
equal rights to all races and conditions of men. 

He has always devoted himself so closely to his jjrofes- 
sion as to prevent all thought of political preferment — 
having held but one public office, that of District Attorney 
of his county — vintil 1863, when he was elected Senator 
of the Twenty-fifth District ; to which office he was 
re-elected, in the fall of 1865, by a majority of over four 



STEPHEN K. AVILLIAMS. 158 

thousand, and more than two hundred in advance of his 
ticket, and Avas again elected, in 1867, by a flattering vote. 
During these terms he has held important positions on 
committees, such as Railroads, Judiciary, State Prisons, 
Retrenchment, &c., and takes a prominent part in all the 
proceedings of the Senate. Within a few years he has 
several times been proposed for Congress from his district, 
but the claims of locality taking precedence, the nomina- 
tion Avent to Cayuga county. 

In 1865, Mr. Williams was a delegate to the Baltimore 
National Convention, which renominated Abraham Lix- 
COLX for the Presidency. He aided in the admission of 
the Louisiana delegates into that convention, whom he 
regarded as entitled to representation there, as they had 
formed a loyal constitution and a loyal government which 
was then in the hands of loyal men. In regard to his 
action on that occasion, the New Orleans True Delta, then 
a loyal paper, and published by Hon. William R. Fish, 
said : 

" It is well known to most of our readers, that when the Louisi- 
ana delegation presented themselves as members of the Baltimore 
Convention, in April last, there was considerable oisposition to 
their admission. It is not generally known, however, how that 
opposition was overcome, at least, on the part ot the New York 
delegates. Mr. Williams, a member from that State, enjoying the 
confidence of Mr. Preston King, the Chairman of the Committee 
on Credentials, and the respect and good will of all the other mem- 
bers who knew him, used his influence, both publicly and privately, 
in behalf of the admission of our delegates ; and it is not too much 
to attribute their admission, in a great measure, to his exertions. 
This circumstance forms a connecting link between the New York 
State Senator and the citizens of Louisiana." 

He has always been an earnest and eflective friend of 
the canals of this State, and has endeavored, several times, 
20 



154 LIFE SKETCHES. 

to abolish the system of repairs by contract; but the 
strong influences, interested in preserving the present 
system, have thus far prevented the accomplishment of its 
repeal. 

In the Senate, Mr, Williams has been a firm friend of 
the soldier. In 1864 he introduced a bill "for the relief 
of the families of volunteers in actual service in the army 
and navy of the United States ;" supported warmly and 
eflSciently the Constitutional amendment, giving them the 
rio-ht to vote while in the field ; dedicated his services, for 
several months each year, during the war, to the promotion 
of the interests of volunteers, and gave his active support 
to bills raising bounties for soldiers. 

Senator Williams is a ready and accomplished debater, 
speaking seldom on unimportant questions, but on issues 
of importance, always taking a prominent part. 



JAMES TERWILLIGER, 

CLERK OF THE SENATE. 

Mr. Terwilliger is a native of New Scotland, Albany 
county, New York, where he was born January 30th, 1825. 
He is of Holland and Scotch lineage. In the year 1836, 
he removed to the town of De Witt, Onondaga county ; 
and, up to the age of eighteen, his time was spent in 
working on the farm, and obtaining the meager education 
imparted by the district schools. He early manifested 
a great love for books and newspapers. He seized every- 
thing of the kind which came in his way, and devoured 
the contents Avitli avidity. His tastes were more particu- 
larly in sympathy with works of a political nature, and 
biographies of statesmen; and thus his thoughts were 
turned to the workings of political machinery. In the 
mean time, until he was twenty-six years old, he labored 
on his father's farm, familiarizing himself with all of the 
weary routine of agricultural toil. In 1851, a new chap- 
ter was opened in his life. Laying aside the implements 
of manual work, he invested his capital in journalism, 
and became one of the proprietors of the Syracuse Daily 
Journal. His connection with that newspaper continued 
imtil 1855, when he was appointed Deputy Clerk of the 
Assembly, by R. IT, Shermak, then Clerk of the House. 
In 1856, he received the appointment of Journal Clerk of 
the Senate, and held that appointment for four years, at 
the end of which time he was elected Clerk of the Senate. 
Mr. Terwilliger has since been four times elected with- 
out opposition. In addition to this post of honor and 
responsibility, he has held others of similar importance. 



156 LIFE SKETCHES. 

In fact, the past eighteen or twenty years of his life have 
been more or less employed in arranging the details of 
either county or State campaigns, and in supervising the 
order of legislative business. Mr. Terwilliger was chosen 
Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of Onondaga county, in 
1849; and, from the organization of the Republican party 
in 1856, to the year 1860, he was Secretary of the Onon- 
daga County Republican Committee, when he was elected 
Secretary of the Republican State Committee. He con- 
ducted the memorable presidential campaign of that year 
with masterly tact and acceptance, and originated the 
plan of sending speakers, by the State Committee, into 
different sections, a practice now so generally adopted. 
Mr. Terwilliger has been Secretary or Acting Secretary 
of the Republican Union State Committee ever since, 
excejjt the years 1862, '64 and '67. In the canvass of 
1864, he was Acting Secretary of the National Union 
Executive Committee, and additionally aided the State 
Committee very materially. 

When the lamented Prestox Kixg was appointed Col- 
lector of the Port of New York, the position of Private 
and Confidential Secretary to the Collector was offered 
to Mr. Terwilliger, without any solicitation or previous 
knowledge of the matter, on his jjart. Induced by friend- 
ship for Mr. King, he accepted the place, and held it until 
the appointment of the present Collector, when he resigned. 

Mr. Terwilliger's familiarity with all the ramifications 
of political forces ; his very large acquaintance with the 
leaders of parties in this State and the country at large ; 
his ready comprehension of the right thing in the right 
place, render his services almost invaluable. As Clerk of 
the Senate, he is a master. All of the duties attending 
that post are as familiar to him, as are the successions of 
propositions of Euclid, to a professor in college ; and his 



JAMES TERWILLIGER. 157 

marked executive abilities, his steady application to the 
rapid dispatch of business, and his almost uninterrupted 
attendance upon the sessions of the Senate, greatly enhance 
the value of his services. 

There is no bluster in his composition. The calm dignity 
of the perfect gentleman always rests upon him, and the 
smile of good nature is rarely missed from his face. Mr. 
Tebwilliger is held in high estimation by both parties. 
At the close of each term, elegant testimonials have been 
presented to him by the Senators, as an expression of their 
appreciation of his ability and kindness. 



MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 



I 



WILLIAM HITCHMAN, 

SPEAKER OF THE ASSEMBLY. 

The Speaker of the House is one of that class of men, 
now very common, who have pressed their own way to the 
front, over many and serious obstacles. Indeed, of nearly 
all our public men can the American people with excusable 
pride boastingly say, they carved their own way to fortune 
and to fiime. It is the genius of our institutions that 
young men, born Avith noble impulses and honorable 
ambitions, as they press energetically on to the goal of 
their hopes, find the way ojDening clearer and brighter 
before them. It is the first hills that need bi-avery and 
toil in the surmounting — ever after, the race is only 
limited by the endurance. The Speaker is of those who 
find no limit to their determinations, having before them 
only steady, persistent, earnest struggling, and a prepa- 
ration and cultivation for its rewards. 

William Hitchmajt is a native of New York city, 
having been born in Pearl street, near New street, Novem- 
ber 18, 1830. His father, at that time, kept a livery stable 
in the last named street ; but being unsuccessful there, 
he soon after removed to Yorkville. Willie IIitchman 
was a favorite pupil in the public school in Eighty-sixth 



160 LIFE SKETCHES, 

Street, where he received his early education. His conduct 
record was always of the highest, and the head of the 
class the usual reward of his natural intelligence and appli- 
cation to study. The old gentleman, with an amount of 
sound common sense rarely to be found, determined that 
his son should have a trade. The teacher, Mr. Thomas 
Spofford — afterwards Alderman and member of Assembly 
— remonstrated earnestly, that the lad's superior mental 
powers fitted him for a profession, and begged that one 
be chosen for him. The father's ansAver deserves to be 
written in gold and set in a framework of diamonds, to be 
placed in the home of every father and every son in the 
land : " Let him get a trade to earn his bread, ak^d 

THEN^ THE PROFESSIOIS^ AFTERWARD, IF HE CHOOSES." 

And the trade was learned. Willie seemed to have a taste 
for carriage painting, and he was apprenticed to James 
Flynx, whose shop was at that time in Eighty-sixth 
street, near Third avenue. He entered upon the calling 
with industry, and mastered all the mysteries and intri- 
cacies of the craft, in a comparatively short time. Young 
HiTCHMAN possessed the very common attachment to " the 
machine," and served a full term as member of Engine 
forty-five, filling the position of Secretary most of the 
time. 

Plis apprenticeship being ended, he entered the carriage 
manufactory of Isaac Lockwood, at the North End, 
where he worked some time, but the avocation not agree- 
ing with his health, he determined on a change. He 
secured a position in the old Municipal Police Department 
of New York city. He was almost immediately promoted 
to a Sergeantcy, and held the office of Lieutenant of the 
Nineteenth Ward Police at the time of the institution of 
the Metropolitan Police system. He then, while the litiga- 
tion between the two Departments was pending, entered 



AVILLIAM HITCHMAX, 161 

the office of Dennis McCaktht, United States Weigher, 
as clerk, and conducted the business for a year in a 
masterly manner. Thus ftir we find Mr. Hitciiman filling 
Avith fidelity the various subordinate trusts committed to 
him. We now come to the turning point in his career. 
We find, as in all cases of the advance of young men, that 
the opportunity which made elevation possible to Mr. 
HiTciniAX was of the most ordinary kind, and that it was 
merely his own energy, industry and perception that 
secured advancement. In 185 9, he was appointed engross- 
ing clerk of the Board of Aldermen of Xew York city, 
and held the position over eight years, discharging the 
duty with ability and usefulness. That was his oppor- 
tunity. Young men are found on every hand Avith 
opportunities equally or more conducive to success. The 
chance it gave was simply the opportunity for self- 
improvement ; and, surely, many have that. Ilis desk was 
located in the City Library. While his time was w^ell 
occupied in his public duties, he yet had leisure hours, and 
those hours were devoted to laying the foundation for 
higher positions. Manuals of Parliamentary practice, 
debates in Congress, political, statistical, historical and 
scientific works, Avere not only read but studied. Thus he 
stored his mind Avith valuable material, Avhile day by day 
he made his mental acquirements the more valuable, by a 
constantly augmenting practical experience with the 
AV^orld. 

Mr, HiTCHMAN was elected a member of the Board of 
School Trustees of the Nineteenth Ward in 1860, and was 
re-elected. At the close of his second term, he was chosen 
School Commissioner, and held the office during the term, 
Avhich expired shortly after the opening of the Assembly. 
He was a wise and disicriminating officer, and won the 
affections of both scholars and teachers. Mr. Hitchman's 

21 



k 



162 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Democracy is of the kind thut favored the vigorous crush- 
ing of rebellion, and the speedy reunion of the country, 
under but one, and that the good old flag. He has 
been a valuable member of Tammany Hall General Com- 
mittee since 1861, and its efiicient Secretary since 1863. 
He was elected a Trustee of the Fire Department in 1864, 
and still retains the position. He was chosen member of 
the Constitutional Convention in the spring of 1867, and 
served in that body on several important committees. 
His wise appreciation of correct fundamental principles, 
keen perceptions and cultivated judgment, won for him 
many friends in that body. 

Mr. Hitchman's nomination to the Assembly attests his 
popularity. He had no thought toward nor aspiration for 
the oftice, but each of the two wards in his district had their 
favorite candidate, and the struggle for success became so 
earnest that it was impossible for either to break the tie in 
the Convention. In this critical period, and within but a few 
days of the election, Mr. Hitchman's name was suggested 
as a compromise, and was received with warmth by both the 
candidates and their supporters. He finally, with reluc- 
tance, yielded to the logic of the position and the urgency 
of his friends, and accepted tlie nomination. The canvass 
was no easy one, but he was triumphantly elected. The 
Speakership was still less anticipated or sought. But his 
party being in the ascendancy, many leading minds 
turned to him as best fitted, by accomplishments and 
position, to fill the post. In the canvass he had to con- 
tend with the prestige of the legislative experience of 
Mr. Jacobs, the strength of Mr. Flagg in the interior, 
and the powerful influences operating in favor of both. 
He succeeded, after an interesting struggle, in caucus. 
His only drawback to the highest and most immediate 
success as a presiding oflicer, was his lack of experience in 



■WILLIAM HITCHMAN". 163 

the Assembly. But he brought to the discharge of the 
duties a well trained intellect, a cool and quick mind, and 
a firm and imjdelding resolution. His success has been 
remarkable. Prompt, decided and impartial, even his 
strongest opponents can find nothing in him worthy of 
censure. His mistakes, even at the outset, were few and 
unimportant, and his determined eiFort to become efticient 
in the routine duties of the Chair, and a master of the rules 
by which it is govei*ned, was crowned with the highest 
success. His unaifected but cordial courtesy, bland man- 
ners, and firm but pleasant administration, have made for 
him friends of the whole membei'ship of the House. His 
voice is fluent, pleasant and correct. In the designation of 
his appointees, and selection of his committees he was very 
successful. He is a man about the ordinary size, well 
built, but neither stout nor tall, of long features, fair com- 
plexion, mild eye, and bold development of the head. In 
public life he is charitable and elevated in tone, while in 
his domestic relations he is aifectionate and kind. At 
home, beloved ; abroad, respected and honored, the career 
of life but just opens before him. It can be nothing else 
than a prosperous and happy one. 



ALFRED THEODORE ACKERT 



Mr. AcKEET is one of the youngest members of the 
Assembly. He is a lawyer of much promise, and more 
than ordinary ability. By his own perseverance and 
energy he has acquired an excellent education. He is 
descended from German and Dutch ancestry, who settled 
at Rhinebeck, Dutchess county, some time before the 
American Revolution, at which place he was born April 
15th, 1840. Until seventeen years of age, he Avas employed 
upon his fxther's farm, attending common school at 
intervals. He then pursued a thorough course of studies, 
first at the Amenia Seminary, Dutchess county, 'New 
York, and afterward at the Fort Edward, New York, 
Collegiate Institute, always receiving the highest honors. 
In ^1861, he commenced reading law in the ofiice of H. M. 
Taylor, at Rhinebeck, and soon after came to Albany 
to attend lectures at its celebrated Law University, 
from which institution he graduated honorably in 1863, 
receiving the highest commendations from the professors. 
While in Albany he was in the office of Messrs. Cagger 
& Porter. 

Ml'. AcKERT commenced the practice of his profession in 
the city of New York in the fall of 1863, with the firm of 
Wet:hore & BowxE, maintaining his residence at Rhine- 
beck. 

He received the unanimous nomination by acclamation 
for member of Assembly from the Second District of 
Dutchess county, at the Democratic Assembly Convention 
last fall, and was elected by a majority of 183 over Hon. 
Mark D. Wilber, the Republican candidate, who for 



I 



ALFRED THEODORE ACKERT. 165 

three years had represented the district in the Legislature, 
and who expected to be triumphantly re-elected. His dis- 
trict comprises the city of Poughkeepsie, and seven country 
towns. His vote in his own town w^as very flattering, 
carrying it by 45 majority, a gain of 171 over the previous 
year. 

Mr. AcKERT has an ixnbleniished character and reputa- 
tion. He is a worthy and deserving young man, and 
reflects credit upon the district Avhich sent him to the 
Assembly, the first and only oflice he ever held. 

He is a prominent and active legislator, perfectly inde- 
pendent, and sustains Avith energy every measure he 
believes to be right. He is no mere partisan, although a 
firm adherent to the principles of his party. He seldom 
occupies the time of the house with speech-making, but 
Avhen important measures are under consideration presents 
his views in a terse and vigorous way, with a clear, 
ringing voice, and always commands the attention of the 
members. He is a member of the Judiciary Committee, 
Chairman of Committee on Grievances, and a member of 
Committee on Indian Affairs. 



AUGUSTUS G. S. ALLIS. 



Mr. Allis, wlio represents tlie First Assembly District 
of Onondaga county, was born in Cazenovia, Madison 
County, January 5, 1831. His father, Elisha Allis, was 
a native of Whately, Mass., and his mother is a direct 
descendant of the Stanleys, of Hartford, Conn. He was 
christened by his grandfather, James Stanley, against 
whom, he says, he has always borne a slight grudge for the 
burden of liis name, Augustus Gridley Stanley Allis. 
At an early age he manifested an aptness for study, and 
when able to attend school regularly ranked among the 
lii'st in his classes. Owing to unfortunate speculations, 
his father lost largely, and at the age of fifteen he was 
thrown entirely upon his own resources. His first earnings 
for two years were voluntarily devoted toward paying off" 
his father's indebtedness, thus relieving him from much 
annoyance and embarrassment. He then resolved to obtain 
a good education. He taught his first school at the early 
age of seventeen, and used the earnings in attending the 
State Normal School. His means being necessarily limited, 
he was obliged to practice the most rigid economy. He 
was prepared to graduate with the highest honors of the 
school in 1851, but desiring to review some of his studies, 
he, with two others, declined the diplomas and returned 
the succeeding term, when he organized the Experimental 
School and received the most flattering testimonials from 
the Superintendent of the Department. He refused several 
advantageous offers to teach, being intent on study, but 
finally yielded to the urgent personal appeal of Prof 
Phelps, received his diploma and accepted a situation at 



i 



AUGUSTUS G. S. ALLIS. 167 

Brockport, X. Y., where he taught two years. He then 
came to Albany, and, under a private instructor, pursued 
the study of the hinguages. After thus spending some 
months here, two vacancies occurred in the city schools, 
and he went before the examining committee of the Board 
of Education. The examinations were conducted by Com- 
missioners Cole, Carpenter and McElroy, and were 
protracted and thorough. There were many applicants 
from all parts of the State, including several noted teach- 
ers, and Mr. Allis was selected for the school on Washing- 
ton avenue. His success was marked. After the close of 
the first term, there were more applicants for seats than 
there were places for them. At the end of the year he 
resigned to enter college, pursuant to a former resolve. 
The Board of Education offered a liberal advance of salary, 
and patrons proffered from their private purse, but he 
adhered to his resolution. The remarks of the Albany 
press, at the time, were most flattering, and the proceedings 
of the Board highly complimentary. He has conducted 
successful Teacher's Institutes in several of the large cities 
in the interior of the State. He attended New York Cen- 
tral College for a time, and entered Union College regularly 
in 1855. After being there a short time circumstances of 
a private nature, creditable to his head and heart, led hina 
to take a voyage to Europe. He returned with an addi- 
tional fund of knowledge, his own health benefited, and 
that of his wife completely restored. On his return, he 
entered upon the study of the law in the office of Jerome 
Fuller, at Brockport, and December 7th, 1856, was 
admitted to the bar. The following spring he was chosen 
Police Justice of the place, and held the office until he was 
induced to accept the position of Principal of the High 
School at Joliet, III, where he remained two years. In 
1860 he returned East, in consequence of the health of his 



168 LIFE SKETCHES. 

aged parents, and opened a claim office in Syracnse, in 
connection with Major Park Wheeler, now Treasurer of 
Onondaga county. He was elected Justice of the Peace 
in 1864, entering upon his duties in January, 1865, and 
still continues in their discharge. He is also partner in the 
wholesale house of Wheeler, Allis & Co. 

The persistent energy, indomitable perseverance and 
strict integrity of Mr, Allis have given him the confi- 
dence of the community in which he resides, and enabled 
him to discharge his professional and other duties Avith 
marked success and honor. His varied experience, genial 
manner, and firm principle, make him a valuable member 
of the House. In the Assembly, he is a member of the 
Judiciary Committee and of the sub-Committee of the 
Whole. 



ALEXANDER H. ANDREWS. 



Mr. A. H. A:n^drews is the second son of John B. 
Andrews, a pioneer, who emigrated from Vermont and 
settled in Massena, St. Lawrence county, in 1810, engaging 
in the mercantile business. He performed a prominent 
part in the settlement and progress of the town, holding 
the offices of Supervisor, Town Clerk, and Justice of the 
Peace. His family consists of five sons and one daughter, 
all of whom are now living in their native town. He died 
at the age of sixty-seven. All of that name in this 
country, trace their origin to two brothers who emigrated 
from England about 1640, one of whom settled in Con- 
necticut and the other in Massachusetts. The family to 
which the present member belongs is descended from the 
one that settled in Connecticut. 



ALEXANDER H. ANDREWS. 169 

Alexander H., the second son, was born in Massona, 
April 10, 1819. He attended the common school of the 
village until he was thirteen years of age, when he entered 
the academ)^ at Fort Covington, Franklin count}^, where 
he remained a year, and he was also a year at the St. Law- 
rence University. His education, therefoi-e, in the English 
academic studies, was as good as could be obtained at that 
time. When not at school he was employed in his father's 
store, and had no acquaintance with any other pursuit. 

On attaining his majority, he engaged in mercantile busi- 
ness in Massena, with his elder brother. At the same time 
he was appointed Postmaster under Harrison's admin- 
istration, to succeed his fother, and held the office until 
removed by President Polk. About this time, the village 
was stirred by a spirit of military enthusiasm, a uniformed 
militia company was organized and Mr. Andrews elected 
to the command. He had no taste for mercantile life, and his 
success not having been what his youthful anticipations 
had pictured, he determined, at the age of thirty, to engage 
in agricultural pursuits, and in this his prosperity has been 
far more gratifying than he had anticipated. He was Cen- 
sus Marshal in 1855 and in 1865, and was special agent 
under the Provost Marshal in 1863-4. In politics, Mr. 
Andrews was formerly a Whig, and an ardent admirer of 
Henry Clay. In 1855, he was a delegate to the County 
Convention that organized the Republican party in St. 
Lawrence county. He is, and' ever has been, thoroughly 
radical in his views, leaning strongly to the extreme meas- 
ures of the Old Commoner, Thad. Stevens. 

Mr, Andrews was elected to the Assembly from the 
Third District of St. Lawrence county, by a majority of 
2,338. In his legislative duties he is quiet and unassuming, 
straightforward in all lie says and does, and is a man of 
sound judgment and great solidity of character. 
2ii 



J 

^ 



WILLIAM S. ANDREWS. 



The subject of this sketch is one of the youngest, and 
decidedly the youngest looking man in the Assembly, 
although his career has been as varied and full of adven- 
ture as that of many an older man. He was born in 
Houston, Texas, July 8th, 1841, his parents being from 
New England ; and is a son of S. P. Andrews, the scien- 
tific and philosophical writer and linguist, author of Dis- 
coveries in Chinese, and other works. At a very early 
age he came North, and has since resided in the cities of 
New York and Brooklyn the greater portion of the time. 

Mr. A^'DKEWS at an early age developed a taste for the 
dramatic art, and in the winter of 1860 and '61, we find 
him occupying a prominent position as an actor at Niblo's 
Garden, in New York, he being then eighteen years 
of age. 

Immediately on the receipt of the intelligence of the 
bombardment of Fort Sumter, he enlisted in the volun- 
teer force as a private; and in June, of 1861, while in 
the field, was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 
Ninth New York (Hawkins' Zouaves). He participated 
in the battle of Big Bethel, known as the first battle of 
the war, and was in the first boat which landed at Hat- 
teras Inlet, in August of 1861, under Butlep.. Shortly 
afterwards he was attached to the staff of Brigadier Gen- 
eral Thomas Williams, commanding District of North 
Carolina, in the capacity of topographical engineer, where 
he acquired a familiarity with the inhabitants and topog- 
raphy of the coast of North Carolina, which enabled him 
to render signal service in the Buristside Expedition. 



^VILLIAM S. ANDREWS. 171 

On the arrival of General Buexside at Hatteras in the 
winter of 1862, Mr. Andrews was transferred to his staff 
as a special aid. Some sixty pilots being required for 
the expedition, Mr. Andrews was intrusted with the duty 
of procuring them; in the performance of which duty he 
was obliged to penetrate many miles into the enemy's 
country. 

Ml". Andrews was now placed by General Burnside in 
charge of the secret service. He succeeded in obtaining 
correct information as to the number and position of guns, 
number of troops, location of batteries, &c., within the 
enemy's lines on Roanoke Island. 

On the 7th of February, 1862, the day of the landing 
of our troops on Roanoke Island, he went in a small boat 
to the shore, and, under a sharp fire of musketry, selected 
a landing place for the troops, and found a channel- way 
for the transports to the shore. Returning to the fleet, he 
was ordered to pilot the troops to the shore, which difiicult 
duty he successfully performed.* 

Mr. Andrews then entered the Signal Corps of the 
United States Army, in which corps he was a First Lieu- 
tenant until near the close of the war, when, in consequence, 
of ill health, he left the service. While in the Signal 
Corps he participated in most of the engagements under 
Burnside and Pope, in Xorth Carolina and Virginia, and 
under Gilmore and Terry in South Carolina, where he 
remained until his withdrawal from the army. 

"While stationed on board gunboats in the York River, 
as a signal officer, he perfected an invention for signaling 
from within the turrets of " Monitor" vessels ; and he was 
sent to South Carolina to apply his invention to the 



*See reports of Major-Generals A. E. Burnside and Johk G. Foster of the 
Battle of Roanoke Island, and operations leading thereto. 



172 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Monitors then oiF Charleston (before the bomljardment of 
Fort Sumter). The invention, though perfectly successful, 
was only used once or twice, as there was a prejudice 
against the presence of army officers in the fleet, and no 
time was allowed for the proper instruction of naval 
officers in its use. 

On leaving the army, Mr. Aircrews returned to the 
stage, and after traveling for a time East and West, he 
was for two years the leading comedian of the Winter 
Garden Theatre, in New York, where he appeared in all 
of Edwix Booth's plays. He met with a success which, 
had he remained in it, would have carried him to the top 
of his profession. His personations of the Grave Digger in 
Hamlet, Launcelot Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice, 
Lord Dundreary, and many other parts, will not be soon 
forgotten l)y New York play-goers. As an actor, he was 
chiefly remarkable for his versatility and power of 
delineating character, he being equallj^ excellent as the 
polished gentleman or the uncouth clown. 

Having accepted an appointment as Deputy Collector 
of Internal Revenue in the city of Brooklyn, he determined 
to quit the stage, and made his farewell appearance on the 
occasion of a complimentary benefit, tendered by the 
Mayor and other distinguished citizens of New York. 

He was a Deputy Collector under three Collectors, and 
wlien T. C. Callicot was suspended from office Mr. 
Andrews was appointed Acting Collector in his place, 
which position he held iintil after his election to the 
Assembly. 

In politics Mr. Axdrews has heretofore been a Rejjub- 
lican, although moderate in his views, and opposed to the 
policy of the party in this State as regards their legislation 
on local aflriirs, and the passage of sumptuary laws. He 
received a nomination for the Assembly as a " Soldiers' 



WILLIAM S. ANDREWS. 173 

and Sailors' " candidate, without regard to party, and was 
indorsed by the Democrats. He ran aliead of his ticket 
and was elected by a large majority, in a district here- 
tofore largely Republican. 

He went into the Democratic caucus, and has, on all 
State questions, voted uniformly with that party. He is a 
valued member of the Committee on Railroads and Fed- 
eral Relations. Mr. Andrews is a ready debater, present- 
ing his points compactly, forcibly and elocpiently. He is 
unobtrusive in manner, congenial and pleasant. He is of 
a sandy complexion, fair features, and handsome expres- 
sion. Tasty in his attire, and unaifected in style, he is 
one of the most promising young men in the House. His 
social habits are correct, and his public life unspotted. 



L 



RAYMOND P. BAB COCK. 



Mr. Babcock is a quiet and observing member of the 
House, who has lived to a good and green okl age, and 
rejoices in being respected and honored by the sterling old 
county of Cortland. He was born April 19, 1800, in 
Hopkinton, Rhode Island, the little State in which Ameri- 
can liberty was cradled, and shows his attachment to the 
free principles of Rogek Williams by a strong devotion 
to the cardinal features of the Republican party. His 
educational advantages, so far as schooling is concerned, 
were limited to the common schools, but he has had the 
broader education of a close contact with the world, in an 
active life. He is a successful farmer, of the town of Scott, 
Cortland countj^ His neighbors and friends have borne 
frequent witness to the sterling probity of his character, 
by frequent elections to the offices of Justice of the Peace 
and Supervisor, In these days of degenerate offspring, 
it is refreshing to witness one of his years able to attend 
to the arduous labors incident to the faithful discharge of 
the duties of member of Assembly. His last days give 
promise of being his best days, in that they are so 
pregnant with the evidence of the attachment and confi- 
dence of his constituents. 



LYMAN BALCOM. 



Mr. Balcom was born on the 19th of November, 1800, hi 
the town of Preston, Chenango county. He worked with 
his father, Sajiuel Balcom, farming and lumbering on 
the Susquehanna river, until April 1820, when he bought 
his time from him at llOO. On the 12th of July follow- 
ing he married Clarissa Hallenbeck. Both were poor, 
and all her worldly goods was a bed. He had |50 in cash, 
which he had saved from the odd pennies he had picked up. 
On holidays his father would give the boys the day, and 
tw^enty-five cents with which to obseiwe it. Lyman then 
laid the foundation of his present competency by saving 
the silver, and when he had from |3 to |5 Avould put it on 
interest. This is the way the |50 had been made up. He 
at once, on marriage, ran in debt $3,600 for real estate, 
and engaged in farming and lumbering. He visited Balti- 
more with lumber each year until January 6, 1826, when 
he sold out, paid up all Ins debts, and had '15,000 left. So 
much for patient industry and prudent management, both 
on the part of the frugal and active wife, as well as the 
laborious and energetic liusband. He then moved from 
Greene to Oxford, where he continued in the same avoca- 
tion until April, 1835, when he removed to Steuben 
county. In the fall of 1836, a little more than ten years 
since the first balancing of books, he sold out, settled up, 
and had $22,000 left. He continued farming and lumber- 
ino- until 1855, since which he has confined himself to 
farming and dealing in real estate. He has three sons 
and four daughters, all of whom are well married and 
comfortably settled. 



176 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Mr. Balcom voted the " Bucktail" ticket from 1821 to 
1826, then the Jackson ticket until 1830, then the Whig 
ticket until 1 854, and since then has been a firm Republican. 
He has held various town offices, has been Vice-President 
of the Steuben County Agricultural Society eight years, 
and its President four years. He was appointed by 
Governor Seward and confirmed by the Senate, County 
Judge of Steuben county in January, 1840, and held the 
office five years. 

It is a curious fact, that Mr. Balcoji's opponent in the 
late canvass, was liis own brother, who is the only Demo- 
crat in the family. He achieved considerable notoriety by 
introducing into the Assembly resolutions in favor of a 
" greenback theory " of National finances, and sustained 
them in a strong speech. He is a member of the Commit- 
tees on Indian Affiiirs and Two-thirds and Three-fifths Bills. 

Mr. Balcom's personal habits are the most exemplary. 
He neither uses tobacco nor drinks liquor, and is one of 
the most genial and pleasant of men. He has the old 
Roman integrity and the rugged, far-seeing intellect of the 
successful yeoman. He has several brothers, all of whom 
are possessed of marked talents. Among them is Ransom 
Balcom, a Justice of the Supreme Court. 



GEORGE J. BAMLE 



Mr. Bamler is the representative from the first district 
of Erie county, and was elected to the present Assembly 
on the Democratic ticket, by a majority of six hundred and 
fifty-six over Johx Hoy, Republican. 

Mr. Bamler is a native of Bavaria, in which country he 
was born April 21, 1835. When eight years old his family 
emigrated to this country, and settled in Buffalo, where he 
has ever since resided, and is now engaged in mercan- 
tile business in that city. He is known as an active and 
influential Democratic politician in his locality, and exer- 
cises great influence among his German friends. In 1863, 
he w^as elected a member of the Common Council of Buf- 
falo, and re-elected in 1865. In the Assembly he is a 
member of the Committees on Cities, and Trade and Manu- 
factures, and is a faithful and intelligent member. 



23 



MATTHEW P. BEMUS. 



Mr. Bemus is descended from a family of some note in 
colonial New York. His father, Captain Charles Bemus, 
commanded a company during the War of 1812; and Mr. 
William Bemus, his grandfather, was a prominent citizen 
of the county of Rensselaer, and an early settler of Chau- 
tauqua county. He married Miss Maby Prendergast, so 
that the subject of this sketch is a lineal descendant of 
one of the most reputable families of Western New York. 

Mattheav p. BiiXMUs was born in the town of Ellery on 
the 3d of January, 1818. He received a common school 
education, displaying extraordinary tact, shrewdness and 
proficiency. On arriving at maturity, he engaged in 
mercantile business, which he prosecuted for ten years. 

He early took an active interest in politics, and was a 
zealous Whig, first taking the field in favor of the election 
of General William Hexry Harrison for President, and 
William PI. Seward for Governor. In 1840 he received 
the appointment of County Treasurer, and held the office 
for six years. He was then nominated for County Clerk, 
and elected. At this time he was regarded as one of the 
most promising and energetic young men in the county. 

About this time he made purchase of a tract of land in 
the town of Chautauqua, 1,400 acres in area, and engaged 
in agriculture. For ten years ensuing, he pretty much 
withdrew from prominence in political matters, to give his 
attention to private business. But he could not remain 
inert, and finally engaged upon an extended field of opera- 
tions, embracing local improvements both at home and 
elsewhere. Several of the most prominent measures 



MATTHEW P. BEMUS. 179 

which were acted upon by the Legislature of 1860, and 
subsequently, received their impress from his active 
efforts ; and, upon the breaking out of the rebellion, he 
entered more actively than ever into the political and 
other movements required for supporting the national 
administration. 

Three years since he became the Inspector of the Buffalo, 
Corry and Pittsburgh Railroad. This road extends from 
Brockton to Corry, and is designed to afford another route 
for coal and other products of Western Pennsylvania to 
Buffalo. The future prosperity of Chautauqua county is 
closely associated with this enterprise, which Mr. Bemus 
is so conspicuously prosecuting. It is hardly necessary to 
add that such enei-gy and piiblic spirit have won favor and 
general pojuilarity among his fellow-citizens. In the 
spring of 1867, he was elected Supervisor of the town of 
Chautauqua, there being no opposing candidate. In the 
ensuing autumn, he became the Republican candidate for 
member of Assembly. Extraneous circumstances gave 
rise to a violent opposition to his election, and an inde- 
pendent Republican candidate was placed in the field. 
Mr. Bemus, however, received a majority of 376. This 
spring he was unanimously re-elected Supervisor of Chau- 
tauqua. His identification with the material interests of 
the county, his great energy and perseverance, and his 
personal suavity of manner, account for his influence and 
popularity. He possesses rare power of calculating 
chances, and so is seldom disappointed. His life has been 
a continued succession of struggles, and generally of 
successes. 



CHAUNCEY C. BENNETT. 



Mr. Bennett, the member from Broome county, is 
thirty-eight years of age. He was born in the town of 
Lincklaen, Chenango connty, N. Y,, August 23d, 1829. 
His ancestors were New England people. Wolcott Ben- 
nett, his grandfather, a native of Connecticut, served as a 
commissioned officer in the Revolutionary army, under 
General Washington. 

Ml-. Bennett has received an academic education, but 
is essentially a self-made man. He has always been an 
attentive reader of law, and for several years held the 
office of Justice of the Peace in Chenango county and in 
Broome county. He was elected Justice in his native 
town when he was twenty-three years of age, and was a 
number of times re-chosen. It is extremely creditable to his 
judgment that in a large business, during which he decided 
about four hundred cases, there was but one case of 
probably fifty that were appealed in which his decision 
was not sustained. He was also Supervisor of Lincklaen. 

In 1859, Mr. Bennett removed to the town of Triangle, 
in Broome county, where he now resides. In Triangle he 
was elected and re-elected Justice of the Peace, and in 
1865, 1866 and 1867, was chosen Supervisor. He was a 
very active supporter of the late war, and used his time 
and means freely. 

Mr. Bennett is a farmer, and makes his business as such 
a sort of profession. A large part of his time at home is 
devoted to his ample library, and to various publications 
of the day. His probity, ability and geniality have secured 
to him the confidence and esteem of the people of his dis- 



■WILLIAM C. BENTLEY. 



181 



trict in a marked degree. Quickness of discernment, 
readiness of action and undoubted integrity are among his 
most decided characteristics. 

In politics, Mr. Bennett has been a Republican since 
the Republican Party was organized, and he is " strong in 
the faith." His majority as representative was about 
1,100. He is a member of the Committee on the Aftairs 
of Villao;es. 



WILLIAM C. BENTLEY. 



Wm. C. Bentley, Member from the Second District of 
Otsego county, is 58 years of age. He was born in the city 
of Albany in the year 1810. His ancestors came from Eng- 
land about the year 1750, and settled in Rhode Island, 
Providence Plantations. His father, Captain Randall S. 
Bentley, was long a citizen of Albany. William received 
a good education. He chose the profession of law and 
removed to Butternuts, Otsego county, where he engaged 
in the practice of his profession, and has resided there for 
over thirty-five years. He has held various offices in the 
towm Avhere he resides, and has always been an earnest and 
consistent advocate of Democratic principles. In 1867 he 
accepted the nomination of the Democracy for Member of 
Assembly for the Second District of Otsego, and was 
elected by a small majority over his opponent, Mr. Henry 
R, Washburn, being the first Democrat returned from that 
district for fifteen years. He is Chairman of the Com- 
mittee of Claims, and member of the Committees on Ways 
and Means, and Sub-Committee of the Whole. 



182 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Mr. Bentley is a man of solid parts. His judgment is 
sound, his mind clear and discerning, his integrity unyield- 
ing, and he is a gentleman of the old school, courteous and 
kind. He has been a Democratic wheel horse in his town 
for years, and is well versed in general politics. 



WILLIAM G. BERGEN. 



Mr. Bergen was born in Ireland, Februaiy IVth, 1829. 
His parents emigrated to America in the year 1830, set- 
tling in the city of New York, where they still reside. 
Mr. Bergen was early sent to a private school, in which 
he pursued his studies until, the age of fourteen years, 
when he obtained employment in the office of the Courier 
and Enquirer newspaper. He served in the capacity of 
office boy in the editorial department of this establish- 
ment, until, desiring to learn the ^Ji'inter's art, he became 
an apprentice to the business. In consequence of ill 
health, he Avas obliged to abandon the craft for one more 
laborious, and to him more healthful. He finally learned 
the trade of a mason, which he now follows. 

Mr. Bergen is quiet and retiring in his manners, fond 
of study, but withal a pleasant and agreeable gentleman, 
having a large circle of earnest friends, amongst whom he 
is very poj)ular. He has been a life-long, earnest Demo- 
crat. He has never sought any prominence as an active 
worker for his party, and has never held any political 
office whatever, before being elected to his present posi- 
tion. He represents the Ninth Assembly District, com- 



LAFAYETTE J. BIGELOW. 183 

prising the Xinth and part of the Sixteenth Wards of the 
city of New York, in which he received a decided 
majority. 

Mr. Bergex is a member of the Committees on Public 
Printino- and Charitable and Religious Societies. 



LAFAYETTP] J. BIGELOW 



Mr. BiGELOW was born in the town of Ellisburgh, Jef- 
ferson county, Xew York, on the 13th of May, 1835. His 
parents came from Vermont, and his father, Jotiiam Bige- 
LOW, was a farmer in independent circumstances, Avho 
always took a lively interest in public affairs, held the 
office of Supervisor of his town for several years, and in 
1835 and '36, was a member of Assembly. Lafayette, 
his youngest son, was sent to Union Academy, at quite an 
early age. At this excellent institution he was prepared 
for college, and entered the Sophomore class of Union Col- 
lege in the fall of 1854. While there he was studious and 
stood about average in general scholarship. He was 
elected President of the Adelphic Society of that institu- 
tion, and once read a poem before it. He was always 
fond of general reading, and was more given to perusing 
the English classics than in digging after the Greek roots, 
or divining the subtle mysteries of the higher mathe- 
matics. In composition, declamation and extemporaneous 
speaking, he took rank among the first while at school. 

At the end of the Junior year, feeling anxious to begin 
active life, and having already decided on his profession, 
he left Union College and entered the University of 
Albany, Department of Law, in the fall of 1855. He 



U*' 



184 LIFE SKETCHES. 

graduated at this institution in the spring of 1857, receiv- 
ing the degree of LL.B., and while there he took the 
silver medal as the prize for the second best original essay 
on the subject of" Eminent Domain." 

In May, 1857, he removed to Watertown, and com- 
menced the practice of law in company with Bradley 
WixsLOW, Esq., a young gentleman who had just been 
admitted to the Bar. In 1861, he was appointed District 
Attorney, to take the place of his law partner who had 
been elected to the office, but who entered the volunteer 
service early in that year, and served in the Union army 
with distinction, rising successively from Lieutenant to 
Colonel. In the spring of 1865, while in command of his 
regiment, he was shot through the abdomen, and did not 
recover until months after. Mr. Bigelow served out his 
official term as District Attorney, and gave his partner, in 
the field, 1600 out of the $800 salary of the office. 

In the fall of 1862, he was nominated almost by accla- 
mation for District Attorney, and was elected by a large 
majority. For three years longer, he discharged the duties 
of the office with entire satisfaction to the county, and had 
the reputation of being a very faithful and successful pub- 
lic prosecutor. In the fall of 1863, following an inclination 
Avhich he had long felt for the editorial profession, he 
bought an interest in the Daily and Weekly Reformer, 
published at Watertown, and one of the largest and most 
influential Union journals of Northern New York. 

Mr. Bigelow has, for a young man, a high reputation 
as a campaign speaker and literary lecturer. In the cam- 
paign of 1864, he took a prominent part, and spoke in 
Brooklyn and difterent parts of the State, In politics, he 
has always been a Republican, and has never acted with 
any other party. During the rebellion, he made many 
Union Speeches ; was a member of the War Committee 



LAFAYETTE J, BIGELOW. 18o 

in his county, and rendered effective service in raising 
recruits. 

Mr. BiGELOw's tastes are really literary, rather than 
political, and is a graceful and vigorous writer. He has 
lectured before some of the first Lyceums in this State, 
and his name is frequently seen in some of our popular 
periodicals. At the commencement of Union College, in 
1866, he received the honorary degree of A. M., as a 
recognition of his literary character. He has always 
taken an interest in educational matters ; is a trustee of 
St. Lawrence University, and of two Academies. In the 
winter of 1865 and '66, he held the office of Assistant 
Clerk of the Assembly. 

In the fall of 1866, Mr, Bigelow was nominated for 
Assembly, receiving twenty-nine of the thirty votes in the 
convention on a first ballot. He ivas elected by a majority 
of one thousand six hundred and seventy-eight. 

He was made Chairman of the Committee on Printing, 
and accorded a position on Colleges, Academies and Com- 
mon Schools, of which he was an active member. He 
supported earnestly the bill to establish free schools, and 
opposed most bills making any appropriation not neces- 
sary for the support of the government. His constituents 
approved his course ; he was renominated by acclamation 
and re-elected by a large majority. This session he was 
accorded a place on the Committee on Public Education, 
and has been conspicuous in supporting measures of 
retrenchment and reform in all departments of public 
expenditure, and especially in checking the extravagance 
in the printing of useless documents. He is an excellent 
debater and one of the most intellectual members of the 
House. 

24 



NEHEMIAH C. BRADSTREET. 



Nehemiah Cleaveland Beadstreet and Nathaj<iel 
Foster Bradstreet, twin sons of Samuel and Mehita- 
BEL Bradstreet, were born in Danvers, Essex county, 
Massachusetts, April 25, 1821, Their mother's nativity- 
was Boxford, Massachusetts. She was an elder sister to 
the late General Jacob Gould, of Rochester, and was 
born March 19th, 1791, and is now residing in that city. 
Their father, Samuel Bradstreet, was born in Topsfield, 
Massachusetts, August 26th, 1789, and was a lineal des- 
cendant of the venerable Simoin" Bradstreet, one of the 
Colonial Governors of Massachusetts. He was a farmer, 
and was born upon and occupied, during most of his life, 
the hereditary estate of his noble ancestor, which was 
situate on the banks of the Ipswich river, remarkable for 
its beautiful meanderings and diversified scenery. Tops- 
field made no boast of its educational edifices, but within 
those musty walls wei'e puritanical discipline and earnest 
study. At the age of fourteen, with Greenleaf's National 
Arithmetic and Brown's Grammar at heart, the rustic 
could enter the Academy ; two years in which completed 
the scholastic days. Such were the advantages of Mr. 
Bradstreet's education. The family removed to the 
vicinity of Rochester, New York, in the year 1838. 

The subject of this sketch was at once invited to a clerk- 
ship in the shoe and leather house of his uncle. General 
Gould, and at the expiration of three years was admitted 
as a co-partnei', continuing such i;ntil 1863, when he retired 
from mercantile life and has since devoted his attention to 
the management of his farm. 



NEHEMIAH C. BEADSTREET. 187 

Younsf Bradsteeet had scarcely made his bow as a 
citizen of Rochester when lie was served with a " notice" 
to " appear armed and equipped as the law directs " for 
military duty and inspection. Having responded to the 
call according to " military tactics," he resolved to merge 
" parliamentary tactics" in the amusement, and at the 
ensuing election of officers for the company, he showed his 
skill by a triumphant election as captain, receiving his 
commission, and in due time an honorable discharge. He 
also served five years in the fire department, and now 
holds his exempt fireman's certificate. 

Mr, Beadstreet undoubtedly received his penchant for 
public afiairs from his associations with General Gould, 
who, as is well known, did not allow his interest to flag 
either in local or general politics. He had been early 
taught that Jeffersox was the father of Democracy, and 
had learned that in 1769, when first chosen a Representa- 
tive to the Legislature of Virginia, he proposed a bill 
for the permission of the " Emancipation of Slaves," and 
it is not, therefore, singular that in 1848, just in the flush 
of manhood, he should have been found listening to the 
eloquence of Charles Francis Adams, at a Free Soil 
Convention, or have been captivated by the bewitching 
oratory of John Van Buren. 

We may, perhaps, date Mr. B.'s interest and influence 
in politics from the memorable period just alluded to — 
though choosing the work of a private in the ranks. 

Mr. Bradstreet Avas, hoAvever, called out as a candidate 
for Supervisor in 1857, and was duly elected to that oflice. 
At the charter elections of 1859, 1861 and 1864, Mr. B. 
was the Democratic nominee for Alderman, and was in 
each case triumphantly elected over the strongest oppo- 
nents that could be pitted against him. 



188 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Upon entering the Common Council, of Avhich he was a 
member for nearly six years, he at once familiarized him- 
self with the charter and with parliamentary rules, and 
gave his fullest energies to the honor of the Board and to 
the promotion of the best interests of the city. His actions 
and votes were always based upon the principle of "the 
greatest good to the greatest number." In the Spring of 
1863, when the spirit of national politics Avas somewhat 
acrid, the Republicans of Rochester, believing themselves 
invincible at the ballot box, placed in nomination for the 
mayoralty the Hon. Samuel Wilder, a gentleman embody- 
ing the Radical ideas intended to be endorsed at the polls. 
The Democracy determined to meet their opponents with 
manliness and zeal, and selecting Mr. Bradstreet as the 
standard bearer of Conservatism. After one of the most 
exciting contests ever witnessed at the charter election, 
he Avas chosen Mayor by 512 majority over Mr. Wilder. 

An incident occurred in this canvass which probably 
inured somewhat to the success of Mr. Bradstreet. His 
tAvin brother, who bears an almost exact likeness to him, 
and who is fond of a good joke, being frequently accosted 
as the supposed candidate for the mayoralty, Avould 
improve a good opportunity in the course of conversation 
to suggest that faithful service for him (his brother), 
would be remembered, if any position should be sought, in 
case of success. The consequence Avas, that Mr. Brad- 
street, not being apprised of what had occurred, Avas 
considerably confused after his election at the numerous 
reminders^ Avlien, in fact, he had made no promises at all. 
The sequel Avas, however, soon found, and the joke Avas 
considered so good that no ill-feeling was engendered. 

Mr. Bradstreet heartily espoused the National cause in 
the late AA^ar, and shoAved his sympathy Avith the soldiers 
in a practical Avay, by assisting to relieve their families. 



NEHEMIAH C. BRADSTREET. 189 

He gave his constant attention to the distribution of the 
funds provided for relief In procuring volunteers to fill 
the quotas, he was particularly active, and assisted those 
who avowed their readiness to go to the field. As Mayor, 
Rochester probably never had a more industrious chief 
magistrate than Mr. Bradstreet. 

Mr. Bradstreet declined being a candidate for re-elec- 
tion in 1864, but in 1865 was put in nomination again 
for Mayor without opposition. Disaffection had arisen 
in the party, and he was defeated by a few votes. He 
soon after removed to his farm, some six miles from the 
city. Returning to town again with his family some time 
during the past summer, he was again called upon to 
enter the political arena. 

The Republican party had placed in nomination for the 
Assembly Hon. Henry Cribben, the member from Roches- 
ter last year, who was supposed to be invincible from his 
connection with the Eight Hour Movement, and from the 
fact of his belonging to sundry organizations of working 
men, composed mainly of Democrats. Mr. Bradstreet 
took the field, as the Democratic nominee, only three days 
before election, and yet so Avell Avere his former services to 
the party and city remembered, that against tremendous 
odds he was elected over Mr. Cribbex by 57 majority. 

Mr. Bradstreet is Chairman of the Committee on 
Canals, and has introduced and carried through the House 
several very important measures for the maintenance of 
those great commercial highways. He is a high toned 
gentleman ; a man of marked abilities, and is one of the 
leading minds of the Assembly. He is courteous and 
elevated in demeanor, self-possessed and firm in action ; 
respectful and kind in his personal intercourse ; thorough 
and able in the discharge of his duties, and respected and 
beloved by all. 



WILLIAM BRISTOL. 



Mr. Bristol, the member from Wyoming, was born at 
Gainesville, in that county. May Vth, 1821, and has resided 
there ever since. His father Avas a native of this State, 
and a fine type of the resolute and hardy pioneers who 
planted in Western Noav York, the germ of that intelli- 
gence, industry, wealth and patriotism which now 
characterize that section of the State. He was a Member 
of the Assembly of 1823. His mother, a woman of strong 
character and sterling virtues, was a worthy daughter of 
Massachusetts. His grandfather was a Revolutionary 
hero, and his father, a soldier in the Avar of 1812. Like 
many others of our successful men, Mr. Bristol received 
in a common school the basis of his education. Personally 
directing the management of his extensive farm, he has 
occupied himself principally as a avooI dealer. His large 
business operations have been generally successful, and he 
possesses an ample fortune, Avhich is as generously used 
as it Avas honorably won. Mr. Bristol's Avide-awake and 
intelligent interest in political affairs, began before he 
could vote. He Avas originally a Democrat; in 1848, 
became an active and influential Barn-Burner, and in the 
Syracuse Barn-Burner Convention of 1856, AAdiich indorsed 
Fremont, he Avas one of the fcAV representatives of his 
section of the State. Since that time, he has been an 
enthusiastic Republican. He was Presidential Elector for 
the Twenty-ninth District in 1864, and Avas one of the 
Secretaries of the College. He was unanimously chosen 
Supervisor of his town in the years 1863-66, and served as 
Chairman of the Board for two years. 



WILLIAM BRISTOL. 



191 



In 1862, when President Lincoln issued his call for 
600,000 Volunteers, Governor Morgan appointed Mr. 
Bristol one of the War Committee for the Thirtieth 
District. At this time he was at Rochester, deeply 
eno-aoed in business. He immediately returned home. 
On Sunday, notice was read' from the pulpit of one of 
the churches, inviting all who desired to aid in crush- 
ing the Rebellion to meet in his orchard. The Thursday 
following, largely through his indefatigable energy, a 
full company, made up of some of the finest young 
men that left the State at their country's call, was 
enrolled, ready for duty. It was the first company on 
the muster-roll of the famous First New York Dragoons. 
Three years afterward, when "all that were left of 
them" returned from following the fiery Sheridan, out 
of money and anxious to go to their friends previous 
to being paid off", Mr. Bristol interested himself in 
getting them released from their miserable quarters 
near Rochester, and advanced them money from his 
private purse to carry them to their waiting homes. In 
the same pleasant grove, where, three years before, these 
brave boys liad enlisted, a grand pic-nic was gotten up 
to welcome their return. Over four thousand persons 
were present, and it was one of the most notable rural 
gatherings ever held in that section. By the unanimous 
wish of his fellow-citizens, the whole matter of volun- 
teering, bounties, &c., was left to his discretion, and so 
well was the duty done that the repeated calls were 
always honored, and the town owes not a dollar for 
bounties. The same good management was manifested 
in the conduct of the county's volunteering and finances, 
by the Committee of Supervisors, of which he was 
Chairman, and the county paid its last bond, in 1866. 
Aside from private bounties paid to volunteers from his 



192 LIFE SKETCHES. 

town, their families received many substantial tokens 
of his remembrance. The soldier and the soldier's family 
had no truer friend than he. 

Mr. Bristol is now in his second term as member, 
having been twice elected by flattering majorities, serving 
each year on the Committee on Cities, and also the 
present year on the Sub-Committee of the Whole. Per- 
sonally he is a gentleman of fine appearance, open and 
courteous manners, and most generous impulses — a man 
of ability, experience in the Avorld, and strong common 
sense — having a large acquaintance among the public 
men of the State, and the good will and confidence of 
his constituents. The position which he holds is very 
responsible. He has discharged its duties with faithful- 
ness to his constituents, honor to the State, and credit 
to himself. His reputation is unsullied. He is one of 
the most energetic and successful workers and organizers 
in the House. 



AUGUSTUS A. BRUSH. 



Mr. Brush's ancestors came to i^his country from Eno-- 
land, and settled on Long Island. They were very 
conspicuovtsly identified with the early history of this 
nation. His grandfather served, during the revolution, as 
an officer of various ranks, from Captain up to General, 
and his bravery gave him the respect of his fellow officers. 
Mr. Brush left school, at the age of twenty, and entered 
upon a mercantile life, in the town of East Fishkill, New 
York, to which he had removed from New Fairfield, 
Connecticut. He still conducts the business of a general 
country store, in that place. He was elected School Com- 
missioner in 1860, and re-elected in 1863. The watchful 
manner in which he took care of the school interests in 
his district, aftbrded great gratification to the inhabitants. 
His irreproachable character, and searching insight into 
human nature, were two very important qualifications for 
a man in his official position. In his intercourse with his 
fellow-citizens, he always extended a courteous greeting 
to all, whether in exalted or humble station, and thus won 
their high regard, Avhich they plainly exhibited by electing 
him to a still more exalted office, in the Legislature, and 
by re-electing him to a second term. He is an eflTective 
worker in politics. Possessing a noble heart, he gives 
willingly and liberally, whenever charity aj)peals to him 
for assistance ; and, with a firm purpose to avoid that 
which might compromise his honor, he combines the quali- 
ties of a good public officer and reliable friend. 

He is a member of the Committees on Public Health 
and Medical Colleges and Societies, and held the same 
25 



194 LIFE SKETCHES. 

positions last year, with that on State Charitable Institu- 
tions. In the transaction of legislative business, he 
assumes no showy demeanor for the sake of effect ; but 
talks and acts with a motive to make himself useful. 



SAMUEL W. BUEL. 



Mr. BuELL was born in Broadalbin, Fulton county, 
N. Y., on the 16th day of March, 1830. His ancestors 
were from the State of Connecticut. His early educa- 
tional advantages were such only as the common schools 
of his native town afforded. His father was a farmer, 
and he resided with him and followed that occupation till 
he was eighteen years of age, when his father permitted 
him to enter vipon the active business of life on his own 
account, and receive the proceeds thereof for his own 
benefit. He then engaged in the lumbering business, and 
has ever since followed it, carrying it on as successfully 
as he could have hoped to do. His present residence is in 
the town of Benson, in the county of Hamilton. 

He has always acted with the Democratic party. Dur- 
ing the late war he was styled a War Democrat, and 
exerted all his influence, which was very considerable, 
for preserving the Union and maintaining the Constitu- 
tion. Though possessed of considerable political influence, 
he never sought and would not consent to hold an oftice 
until the fall of 1866, when he was persuaded to accept 
the nomination for School Commissioner of Hamilton 
county, and was elected by a large majority. He still 



SAMUEL W. BUEL, 195 

holds the office, discharging its duties with general 
acceptance. 

In the fall of 1867, without his knowledge or consent, 
and w^hile he was absent from the county, he was nomi- 
nated by the Democratic party for Member of Assembly, 
and very reluctantly consented to become a candidate. 
At the election he received the largest majority ever 
given in Hamilton county for any candidate, and a 
majority of fifty-six in Fulton county, which the preced- 
ing year had given the Republican candidate for Member 
of Assembly a majority of over nine hundred. We could 
give no better evidence than this of the confidence reposed 
in his integrity and ability, and of his personal popu- 
larity. He is an energetic, hard working and successful 
member, and is Chairman of the responsible Committee 
on Public Printing. He is also a member of the Sub- 
committee of the Whole. 



EDWARD I. BURHANS. 



Mr. BuRHANS is one of that class of men who, by steady- 
application, make no little progress in the work as well as 
the honors of life. Sucli men may not make so brilliant 
displays as others do, but pei-severing honest purpose 
brings them a certain reward, which is frequently more 
preferable, when a whole life-time is being summed up, than 
that which is measured out to many who started in life 
with pecuniary advantages in their favor. 

Mr, BuRHAjv'S was born in the town of Roxbury, N. Y., 
March 25th, 1804. His parents were among the first 
settlers of the town, having moved thither from Ulster 
county. His father was of Holland ancestry and his 
mother of French Huguenot extraction. When he Avas 
five years old his mother died ; but the loss which he had 
to sustain thereby was partially made iip by tlie kindness 
of his grand parents, with wliom he lived for a few years. 
Until he was nine years old, he did not speak English at 
all, having been taught to talk Dutch up to that i)eriod. 
At about that time, however, a new field was opened to him, 
in the way of school-life. But the opjDortunities were very 
circumscribed, and lasted only until he Avas tAvelve ; after 
that, he was obliged to get his education at home. Pos- 
sessing keen intellectual fiicidties, and being especially 
inclined to mathematics, he soon mastered the common 
English branches sufficiently to be able to take up survey- 
ing in its jiractical details Avhen lie Avas fifteen ; and at 
sixteen, he taught school during a winter term. At the 
age of tAventy-one Mr. Bukhans entered the mercantile 
business without any capital, and has continued therein 



EDWARD I. BUEHANS. 197 

luitil the present time. In tlie meantime, he has carried 
on farming, and honght and sold real estate to considerable 
extent. He has been, and now is, a thorough worker, 
rising early and toiling late. When nineteen years old he 
first tasted the successes of politics by being elected 
Inspector of Common Schools, and three years after he 
Avas made Justice of the Peace, and acted in that capacity 
for sixteen years. He was also Post Master from 1837 to 
1850, and Supervisor for several terms. During the year 
1844 he was elected to the Assembly; and v/as a member 
of the State Senate during 1858-59. Such were his 
honesty of principles and practical knowledge of legal 
matters, that he was appointed County Judge in 1845, his 
term being terminated January 1st, 1847, by the require- 
ments and action of the new Constitution. 

Mr. BuRHAXS was a candidate for delegate to the Con- 
stitutional Convention in the Spring of 1867, but was 
defeated. He was elected to his present office in the 
Assembly by forty majority. He is Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on the Erection and Division of Towns and Coun- 
ties and a member of the Committee on Federal Relations. 
Though he does not consider himself a strict party man, 
his views not agreeing in full with those of either party, 
yet he voted for Jackson, Cass, Pierce, Buchanak and 
McClellax, all of which is enough to confirm him as a 
Democrat through everlasting ages. 

Mr. BuRHANS has largely and frequently contributed to 
the wants of schools and churches ; and his liberality in 
aiding yovmg men in acquiring an education and in enter- 
ing business, has made many a heart grateful for his 
kindness. His experience in legislative matters, coupled 
with his supei'ior judgment, make him a useful and valu- 
able member. 



DENNIS BURNS. 



Mr. Burns is the representative from the Second 
District of New York. He was born in Ireland in the 
year 1827, and came to New York when ten years of 
age, and has ever since resided in that city. He learned 
the trade of a stone-cntter, but some years since was 
compelled to relinquish it, on account of his health, and 
now holds a j^osition in the County Clerk's office. In 
1867, he was elected to the Assembly on the Democratic 
ticket (Tammany), and was chosen by a plurality of 1,101 
votes over James Doxovan, Union Democrat. This is the 
first elective position he ever held, and previous to last 
fall was never a candidate for any office. He is a member 
of two important committees, Banks and Claims. 

Mr. BuKNS is kind hearted, sociable, enjoys a good joke, 
and has the faculty of making i3lenty of friends. He is an 
energetic member, and scrutinizes closely every measure 
which comes uj) for consideration. 



PATRICK BURNS. 



Mr. BuRXS, one of the Representatives from Kings 
county, is a native of the county of Monaghan, Irehand, 
and was born January 1st, 1833. His parents emigrated 
to this country about twenty-four years ago and settled in 
Brooklyn, in the Second and Fifth Wards of which they 
have ]-esided ever since. Mr. Burns was early appren- 
ticed to a shipjoiner, and became an adept in the busi- 
ness of ship-building, at which he worked for about seven 
years ; the most of the time being in the employ of the 
Government at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. He early 
attached himself to the Democratic party, in Avhose ranks 
he was an active worker. At the age of twenty-one he 
was elected a member of the Democratic General Com- 
mittee; and, in 1862, was chosen to represent the Fifth 
AVard in the Board of Supervisors, serving during his 
term as Chairman of the Alms House Committee, and 
Committees on Grades, Relief of Families of Volunteers, 
Courts, County Jail, and Bounties. As a member of the 
latter Committee, he was assigned to the receiving ship 
North Carolina, where he paid the bounties to the volun- 
teers accredited to Kings county. The duties of this 
position were very arduous, but Mr. Burns acquitted him- 
self with credit, and won the praise of his associates and 
the public. Just before the close of his term as Super- 
visor, in 1864, he was unanimously nominated as the 
candidate of his party for the Assembly, and was elected 
by over five hundred majority, notwithstanding an Inde- 
pendent Democrat took the field against him. In the 
Assembly of 1865, he served on the Committee on Salt, 



200 LIFE. SKETCHES. 

but its duties not taking much of his time, he devoted 
himself to the affairs of his city, and became a useful 
member. Mr. Burns made quite a reputation in an eifort 
to have all the streets of Brooklyn opened to the public, 
but failed, owing to the desperate efforts of property 
owners, who insist upon holding the thoroughfares in 
which they live, as private property, subject to no local 
control. In 1865, Mr. Burns started an extensive kind- 
ling-wood factory, which proved a pecuniary success. At 
the present time he carries on an extensive distillery. In 
the Fall of 1866, he was again nominated for the Assem- 
bly, to which he was chosen by a majority of nearly two 
thousand, and was re-elected last year by a largely 
increased vote. Mr. Burns is a gentleman of generous 
impulses, enlarged experience and good judgment. He is 
quite an effective debater and an active working member 
of the House. He is a member of the Committees on 
Commerce and Navigation, and Expenditures of Execu- 
tive Department. 



JONAS K. BUTTON. 



Jonas K. Butto^st, member of Assembly from the First 
District of Cattaraugus county, was born in the town 
of Machias, Cattaraugus county, N. Y., May 3d, 1821. 

His parents were of Welsh extraction, and emigrated 
from Vermont to Cattaraugus county in the year 1816. 

To a common school education, in his case, was super- 
added the mental discipline acquired by an active business 
life, and a careful stud)^ of human nature. He is by pro- 
fession a farmer, and until recently has dealt extensively 
in cattle. 

Mr. BuTTOx is emphatically a self-made man. He began 
life for himself at the age of eighteen, since which time, 
by force of his own energy, he has accumulated a hand- 
some property, and is one of the largest land-holders in 
his native county. His residence, built after a design of 
his own, is one of the finest in "Western New York. 

Mr. BuTTOx enjoyed in a high degree the friendship of 
the late Hon. Peter Ten Broeck during his life time ; 
the last named gentleman reposing such unbounded confi- 
dence in his integrity that, at his death, he appointed him 
sole executor of his will, and President of the Board of 
Trustees of the Ten Broeck Free Academy, an institution 
the construction and endowment of which jMr. Ten 
Broeck handsomely provided for in his last will and 
testament. 

In 1843, Mr. Button was elected School Inspector in 

the town of Machias, and continued to hold the office 

until its abolishment. In 1847, he removed to Franklin- 

ville, where he has since resided. 
26 



202 LIFE SKETCHES. 

As regards politics, Mr. Button is a staunch Democrat ; 
nevertheless, in a county strongly Republican, whenever 
he has allowed himself to become a candidate for office, he 
has uniformly run ahead of his ticket. In 185?i, '54, he 
was elected Supervisor of the town of Franklinville, and 
was re-elected in 1857. In the fall of the same year, he 
was nominated for member of Assembly, Hon. Henry 
Van Aernam, the successful candidate, beating him by 
about two hundred votes. In 1862, he was nominated 
again for the same office, and was defeated by Hon, A. L. 
Allen, the Republican candidate. In 1864, Mr. Button's 
friends nominated him for Member of Congress from the 
Thirty-first Congressional District. He was defeated, 
however, by the Republican candidate, Hon. Henry Van 
Aernam, the present incumbent. In 1867 he was again 
nominated for Member of Assembly, defeating the Repub- 
lican candidate, Hon. Gideon Searle, by 772 votes, in a 
district which gave the Rej^ublican State ticket a majority 
of nearly 650. He is a member of the Canal Committee, 
and also that on Roads and Bridges. 

In private life, Mr. Button is eminently social. His 
large-heartedness, combined with honorable dealing, has 
won for him a large circle of friends. In the Assembly he 
is closely attentive to his legislative duties, and is highly 
esteemed. 



ALANSON B. CADY. 



The representative of the second district of Oneida, is a 
native of the county of Herkimer, where, in Newport, he 
was born on the loth of November, 1810, His father was 
a native of Rhode Island, and his mother of Vermont. 
He had, however, seen but five years, when his parents 
removed to Waterville, Oneida county, where, from that 
dav, Mr. Cady has made it his home. In the common 
school and academy of his adopted village, Mr, Cady 
received as good an education as was in those com- 
paratively primitive days, accorded to American youth. 
At the age of seventeen Mi\ Cady commenced life for 
himself, as an apprenticed builder. Industry was rewarded 
by success, and after years of faithful application to busi- 
ness, by a natural sequence, we find Mr. Cady, from a 
boy with no other capital than a strong hand and an 
honest heart, risen to a man of influence and competence. 
Mr, Cady has in his house a fine library, purchased with 
money earned when he was an apprentice boy, " after 
hours," that is, after the conclusion of the regular duties 
of the day. 

Politically, Mr. Cady was formerly a Whig, but was the 
first man in his town to join the Republican party. 
Though not taking a very active part in politics, he has 
still been frequently a delegate to the State Conventions of 
his party, and in 1860 was an alternate delegate to the 
Chicago Convention, which nominated Abraham Lincoln 
for the Presidency. When Joshua A. Spencer ran as 
an independent candidate against O. B. Matteson, Repixb- 
liean, in the Oneida District, for Congress, Mr. Cady felt 



204 LIFE SKETCHES. 

it his duty to espouse the cause of Mr. Spencer. Through 
his influence, Mr. Spencer received nearly one hundred 
votes in the town of Sangerfield. 

This is Mr. Cady's first political oifice. As a Member of 
Assembly he is conscientious and industrious, and repre- 
sents faithfully and intelligently the interests both of his 
constituents and the State. Mr. Cady, in " ye olden time," 
was connected with the military of the State, and in 1832-3 
was Colonel of the 45th Regiment State Militia. 

In appearance, Mr. Cady is the physical Falstaff of 
the Legislature, bringing down more pounds avoirdupois 
than any of his colleagues. In manner, uniformly courte- 
ous, affable, and considerate of the feelings of all with 
whom he mingles, Mr. Cady is as good a specimen of the 
gentleman of the old school as is often found. 



WINFIELD S. CAMERON. 



Mr. Camerox is a descendant of a Scottish family or 
clan that has occupied no small part in the history of that 
countr3^ He possesses in an eminent degree the peculiar 
traits which distinguish his countrymen, and his success in 
life, achieved against the most unfavorable circumstances, 
has called into action the excellent qualities for which his 
race is remarkable. 

Mr. Cameron was born June 5th, 1838, in the town of 
Ellicott, Chautauqua county, New York. His father, Johx 
A. Cameron, died when he was four years of age. From 
the age of twelve until seventeen, he spent the summers in 
working for wages as a farm laborer, and the winters 
in attending school. During the winters of the two 
succeeding years, he attended the Academy at James- 
town, New York, The following four years were spent 
in farm labor, and in rafting lumber down the Alleghany 
and Ohio rivers to Cincinnati and other places ; and the 
three succeeding years were spent by him in alternately 
teaching a district school, and in attending the Academy 
at Randolph, New York. In 1862, he entered the office of 
Alexander Sheldon, of Randolph, as a student at law. 
While prosecuting the study of law at this place, the 
second call of President Lincoln for more troops was 
issued. After a severe mental struggle, he enlisted as 
a private >in Company H, of the 154th Regiment New 
York Volunteers. He was first promoted to the office of 
Sergeant, then to that of Second-Lieutenant, and finally 
to that of First-Lieutenant. He was w^ounded in the 
thigh at the battle of Chancellorsville. While lying on 



206 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the ground after being wounded, he was captured by 
stragglers following the rebel army, and robbed of his 
watch and his money. He was held as a prisoner about 
two weeks, when he was released on parol, and was 
brought into the Union lines. His wound healed, and at 
the expiration of six months he was regularly exchanged, 
and rejoined his regiment, which, in the meantime, had 
been transferred to the Army of the West, He took 
part in the battle of Lookout Mountain and the Ivnox- 
ville campaign. The following year he was made Captain 
of the Color Company of his Regiment. With this com- 
pany he was engaged in the battle of Rocky Faced 
Ridge, in Georgia. His company, on going into the fight, 
numbered twenty-four men. He came out with only 
seven. On the same day his brother John, a member 
of the 9th New York Cavalry, was instantly killed by 
a Minnie ball, at the battle of the Wilderness. His 
mother, on learning this sad event, urged him to leave 
the service. He obtained a leave of absence, in oi'der to 
visit his mother, but on arriving at home, learned the 
painful fact that she was dead. His grief at his double 
loss only made him more anxious to rejoin his regiment, 
which he did without delay. Some time afterward he 
was placed on the staff of General P. H. Jones, command- 
ing the Second Brigade of General Geary's Division, 
Twentieth Army Corps. He was afterward detached to 
serve as Assistant Inspector-General on the Staff" of Gen- 
eral A, S. Williams, commanding the Twentieth Army 
Corps, in Avhich capacity he served until the close of the 
war. 

On being mustered out of the service, Mr. Cameron 
returned to Jamestown, New York, and resumed the study 
of law, and prosecuted the same at that place until the 
latter part of 1865, when he entered the Albany Law 



WINFIELD S. CAMEROX 207 

School. In May following he Avas admitted to the Bar, 
and soon after opened an office and commenced practice 
at Jamestown, New York. 

In recognition of his patriotic services, Mr. CxVmeron 
was made a Major, by brevet, by President Johnso^t, for 
"gallant conduct during the campaign of Georgia and 
the Carolinas," his appointment to date from March 11th, 
1865. He was also breveted Lieutenant-Colonel by 
Governor Fentox, for gallant conduct at the battle of 
Lookout Mountain. So honorable and patriotic a record 
naturally enough attracted the attention of his party, 
and he was, with the greatest unanimity, made a candi- 
date for Member of Assembly for the Second District of 
Chautauqua county, and was elected by 1,527 majority. 
He is a member of the Committee on Commerce and 
Navigation. He is a gentleman of fine appearance, agree- 
able manners, and a warm friend. Although a good talker, 
he is remarkably quiet in the House, seldom taking part in 
debate. 



TIMOTHY J. CAMPBELL. 



Mr. Campbell, who represents the Sixth District of the 
county of New York, is one of the young men of the 
Assembly, having been elected to his present position at 
the age of twenty-seven. Born of Scotch-Irish ancestry, 
in the County of Cavan, Ireland, in January, 1840, he was 
brought by his parents to the city of New York when a 
child of five years. At the proper age, young Campbell 
was placed in the public schools of his adopted city, and 
continued therein until he was twelve years old. Impelled 
by a laudable ambition to be independent of the support 
of his parents, who were in humble circumstances, he left 
school at that early age, and connected himself with an 
institution not less worthy of being ranked as an educator 
— the printing press. Thus early thrown upon his own 
resources, whatever success in life he has since attained is 
due to his own exertion. Meanwhile, the labors of the day 
at the press being ended, young Campbell, desirous to 
make up for the deficiency of early training at the ^^ublic 
schools, added to his practical business education a further 
book knowledge gained by attending evening schools. 
He also joined a debating club, and by participating 
in its weekly disj^utations he familiarized himself with 
the prominent political and social topics of the day, and 
thei'e doubtless laid the foundation of his future success. 
In the meantime he rose through the various gradations 
of a printing office from "fly boy" at the press, up to 
general office manager, serving at times in job offices and 
again in various newspaper offices, including the Herald, 
Express and Times. 



TIMOTHY J. CAMPBELL, 209 

During a portion of the year 18G0, while the dark and 
threatening war clouds were rolling up, obscuring our 
political horizon, we find Mr. Campbell living in Augusta, 
Georgia, and connected with the ofiice of the Dispatch, 
there published. lie soon, however, returned to New 
York, where, Avith the exception of the few months spent 
in the south, he has always resided since coming to 
America. For the j^ast three years, ignoring types and 
cases, Mr. Campbell has been a clerk in the ofiice of the 
County Clerk of New York. Though never till now 
having held oflicial position, Mr. Campbell has yet for 
some years been active in local municipal politics, and is 
now a member of the General Committee of Tammany 
Hall. As a member of the Fire Department in the good 
old days of the " volunteer " system, he had his share of 
"perilous adventure and hairbreadth 'scapes." Though 
serving his first term, the Speaker recognized the ability 
of Mr. Campbell by placing him at the head of the Com- 
mittee on Roads and Bridges, and also making him a 
member of the Committee on Internal Afiairs of Towns 
and Counties. Socially, Mr. Campbell is one of the most 
genial of men, uniting with the firmness, pertinacity and 
frankness of the Scotch, the characteristic humor, hearty 
friendship and unswerving fidelity of the Irish. Possessed 
of such a happily compounded nature, it is not surprising 
that his friends are many, and grappled with " hooks of 
steel." 



27 



WILLIAM H, CHAPMAN. 



Mv. Chapman is one of the clear-headed and intelligent 
members of the House, He shows a ready appreciation 
of the duties of the office, and with the requisite exper- 
ience will make a valuable member. He was born in 
New Hartford, Oneida county, November 13, 1820. His 
parents both emigrated from England in 1810, and in 
1811 his father purchased a hotel in New Hartford, which 
is still standing and is now owned by his son, the present 
member, who is also responsible for its management, 
although he himself resides on a farm, which, in the 
order of its arrangements and beauty of the buildings, 
is an ornament to the village. His father died when the 
son was but three years of age, leaving his mother in 
moderate circumstances, needing the labor of all her chil- 
dren to aid in the maintenance of the family. William's 
education was therefore confined to the common school, 
and he was able to attend but three months in the year. 
He lived in the hotel purchased by his father until he was 
29 years of age, when he built his present handsome resi- 
dence. He has always taken an active interest in politics, 
being a strict adherent to the principles of the Democratic 
Party, but he has never before held office. In 1854 he 
was the Democratic candidate for Member of Assembly 
from the First District of Oneida, but the district being 
strongly Whig he was defeated, although he ran 250 ahead 
of his ticket. He represents the First District of Oneida 
County, and was elected by a majority of 94. He is 
Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs. 



JOHN C. CHISM. 



Mr, Chism, who represents the first district of Albany- 
county, is a gentleman of warm social qualities, energetic 
in business, clear discernment, penetrating observation 
and untiring industry. He was born in Schenectady 
county, January 18, 1822, and graduated from the Schenec- 
tady Lyceum. He resides in the town of Guilderland, 
Albany county. He is an attorney-at-law, by profession, 
and acts as Insurance agent and auctioneer. He prosecutes 
a successful business. His fellow-citizens have evinced 
their appreciation of his abilities, and their confidence in 
his integrity, by keeping him in the office of Justice of the 
Peace for twelve years. That he has been faithful to the 
trusts reposed in him, is evinced by his continuance in that 
office, and his election to the one he now holds. Mr. 
Chism is fast acquiring that familiarity with the routine 
and intricacies of legislation, necessary to the wise and 
proper discharge of the duties resting upon him. Quick, 
persevering and apt, he bids fair, with the requisite expe- 
rience to make a successful legislator. 



GEORGE CLARK 



Mr. Clark represents Schuyler county. His family is 
of English extraction. His parents removed from Orange 
county in this State to Tyrone, Steuben county, in 
the year 1800, at which place he Avas born June 25th, 
1820. He joassed the first twenty years of his life in 
the manner i;sual to formers' sons of that day, that is 
most of the time at work in the fields, with a little of 
book education at common school thrown in at intervals. 
The pursuit of agriculture was rather against his inclina- 
tion, and hence, at the age of twenty-one, he gratified 
the constructive propensities of his disposition by learn- 
ing the trade of a carpenter. This occupation he 
pursued for eleven years, when his plans for the future 
again were changed, and he entered upon a mercantile 
career, in which he is still engaged. He is also largely 
interested in the lumbering business in the State of 
Michigan. 

Mr. Claek, on becoming a voter, acted with the Whig 
jjarty, and afterward with many of his Whig brethren 
entered the Republican ranks. He was a great admirer of 
Henry Clat. He was elected town clerk in 1848, and 
was re-elected to that oflice for four consecutive years. In 
1854 he was elected to the ofiice of Supervisor, and was 
re-elected to that office every year for the six succeeding 
years. In 1859 he accepted a nomination as an Indepen- 
dent or People's candidate for member of As,^embly, 
against the regular Republican candidate, and came within 
a few votes of an election. In 1862 he was appointed by 
Govei*nor Moegak, Enrollinsr Officer for his town. He 



WILLIAM S. CLARK. 213 

was elected to the position he now holds, by a majority of 
336 over Andrew IST. Ackerly, the Democratic candidate. 
Mr. Clark enjoys to a high degree, the confidence and 
esteem of his neighbors. He gave great satisfaction, and 
established a fine reputation for ofticial integrity and 
executive ability, in the discharge of his duties as Super- 
visor. In his present position he is very faithful in his 
attention to legislative matters, and anxious to give his 
vote on every measure so as to secure the greatest good to 
the greatest number. He has power, but he exercises it 
in a quiet, persuasive waj^ He has pleasing manners and 
strong social feelings, and easily makes friends. 



WILLIAM S. CLARK. 



Mr. Clark's grand-parents, who Avere born in Dutchess 
county, New York, settled in Coeymans, Albany county, 
during the year 1773. His paternal grandfiither being- 
unable to endure the privations of pioneer life, died at the 
age of thirty-two ; his maternal grandfather, Reuben 
Stanton, was among those who, by their vigor and hardi- 
hood, contributed much to clear up the wildnerness in 
Coeymans, in the days when homes were never safe, in 
consequence of the depredations of marauders from the 
army in the war preceding the Revolution. He was, for 
some years, a licentiate in the Baptist Church, and was 
regularly ordained by that denomination, in 1793, continu- 
ing to preach until he was disqualified by age. Mr, 
Clark's j^ai'ents settled on a farm in Carlisle, Schoharie 
county, in 1813, where his father died in 1849. His 



214 LIFE SKETCHES. 

mother is still living ; and, though eighty years old, she is 
healthful and active, with faculties u.nimpaired, and with 
her dark brown hair scarcely marked with a thread of 
silver. 

Mr. Clark was favored with good educational oppor- 
tunities, having attended some of the academies of 
Schoharie and Madison counties. He was a teacher during 
several winters, and then chose law as a profession ; he 
graduated from the Albany Law School in the spring of 
1858, and returned to Sloansville, where he now resides. 
Since then, however, he has gratified his desire for travel 
very largely, and has also been identified with all move- 
ments of public interest in his locality, yet devoting him- 
self to the practice of his profession. 

Mr. Clark was elected Town Superintendent of Com- 
mon Schools, in the year 1850, and was Commissioner of 
Excise during the years 1862, '63 and '64. 

He was nominated by acclamation by the Democrats, 
and elected without opposition to the Assembly of 1867, 
and was renominated and returned to the present Legisla- 
ture by a majority of 1,778, leading his ticket just a 
hundred. During the war, his talents and influence were 
exerted to sustain the government, by addressing Avar and 
bounty meetings, and encouraging volunteering, both in his 
own and the surrounding counties. He has always been 
a Democrat, and various political articles from his pen, 
which have appeared through the public press — among 
them his discussions of the proposed Constitutional Con- 
vention in 1858, and of the Constitutional modifications 
suggested in the Convention of 1867 — display a replete- 
ness of ideas and a vigor of analysis above the ordinary 
cast of mind. 

Mr, Clark has a finely cultivated literary taste, and 
exhibits in his composition a certain vim and dash which 



WILLIAM S, CLARK. 215 

excite and insure one's admiration. His "Memoir of 
Charles Howard Phelps," which Avas written for the 
Trustees of Dudley Observatory, and subsequently pub- 
lished by them, is a chaste and beautiful tribute to the 
memory of one Avhose whole soul Avas inspired with 
the grandeur of Astronomy, and Avhose life trembled at 
the impressions of those master thoughts which seem to 
transfigure the whole being. 

The position taken by Mr. Clark in the Legislature of 
1867, was recognized by his appointment, by Speaker 
Pitts, as a member of the Joint Committee to investigate 
the management of the canals. His ability and legisla- 
tive experience made him quite a prominent candidate 
for Speaker of the present House, for which position he 
received favorable commendations from the press, but in 
deference to the unanimity of the New York delegation, 
and in recognition of the claim of the New York Democ- 
racy, Mr. Clark withdrew from the canvass prior to the 
caucus. 

As we should expect from such antecedents, Mr. 
Clark's conception of legislative duties is not confined 
to mere local interests, but embraces in its scope legisla- 
tion of a general character, and the comprehensiveness 
both of his views and his familiarity with the require- 
ments of the people, is indicated by the bills introduced 
by him in relation to the registry, assessment, and high- 
way laws of the State. In debate, he is ready, forcible, 
logical, and at times eloquent, always having the atten- 
tion of the House ; and by his suavity of manner and 
geniality of nature, has secured, not only the good will 
but the personal regard of all his associates in the 
Assembly. 

In his position of Chairman of the Committee on the 
Internal Affairs of Towns and Counties, he has been inde- 



216 LIFE SKETCHES. 

fatigable in his labors to facilitate the progress of the 
measures submitted to the scrutiny of the Committee. 
He serves also on the Committee on Charitable and 
Religious Societies, and on Local General Orders. Mr. 
Clark is in the prime of life, enjoys a good joke or a 
keen sarcasm Avitli the same zest that an epicure relishes 
his salads and " green seal ;" and we doubt not that his 
versatile intelligence and recognized ability will secure 
for him higher positions and larger trusts ; and however 
high the position the future may assign him, he will 
discharge its duties with fidelity unquestioned and honor 
untarnished. 



WILLIAM F. COOK. 



Mr. Cook was born at Kingsbury, Washington county, 
-N. Y., October 8, 1810. His parents on both sides were 
from Connecticut; their ancestors were from England. 
He received a common school education. His parents 
died when he was about fourteen years of age, but he 
continued to reside on his father's farm, with an elder 
brother, until he was thirty-five. He held various town 
offices while a resident of Kingsbury, and in 1846 removed 
to Whitehall and engaged as foreman in a steam planing mill 
and lumber yard. He remained in that place about seven 
years, and in 1853 removed to Champlain, Clinton county, 
where he engaged in the lumber and planing mill business 
as one of the firm of Hoyt, Cook & Co. (now W. F. 
Cook & Co.), where he has since resided. 

Mr. Cook always acted with the Whigs until the 
organization of the Republican party. He was not 



AVILLIAM F. COOK. 217 

engaged in the military service during the rebellion, but 
gave evidence of his loyalty to the Union by consenting 
that his only son, who was then just ready to enter college, 
shoidd go and battle against armed treason. His son enlis- 
ted as a private, and soon after was made a corporal, in the 
Thirty-fourth Regiment New York Volunteers. Soon 
after reaching Washington, he was detailed for service in 
the Signal Corps, and was attached to General Banks' 
Division. He was engaged at the battles of Winchester 
and Cedar Mountain, and was with General Baxks' com- 
mand in the retreat from the Shenandoah Valley, and was 
in the second Bull Run campaign. Soon after he was sent 
to Sugar Loaf Mountain to watch the movements of the 
rebel army across the Potomac, and sent the first des- 
patches to Washington of Lee's army crossing the river. 
Previous to the battle of Antietam, he, with another 
officer, captured a bearer of despatches from Davis to 
Lee, who was tinder the escort of two rebel soldiers, 
when they were surprised and surrounded by a detach- 
tachm.ent of Stuart's cavalry, and captured, together with 
their prisoners and despatches, and sent to Libby Prison. 
After a month of suffering, he was exchanged, and again 
entering the service, remained his full time, and was 
honorably discharged. In June, 1862, he was recom- 
mended for promotion by his superior officers, and it was 
approved by General Banks, but the recommendation 
failed to be acted upon, either by Governors Morgan or 
Seymour. His services have been recognized, however, 
by a First-Lieutenant's commission by brevet, from Gov- 
ernor Fenton. 

Mr. Cook is one of the first business men of Clinton 
county. He holds the esteem and confidence of his fellow- 
citizens in a marked degree, as is shown by the fact that 
in the late canvass, when so many Repulilican districts 
28 



218 LIFE SKETCHES. 

went Democratic, he Avas elected by a large majority, 
to succeed a Democrat. He is a man every way worthy 
of this high mark of regard. Of mature judgment, integ- 
rity of purpose, and clear discei-nment, he brings to the 
halls of legislation qualities more important than that of 
mere ability to speak with credit. He is unostentatious, 
but as valuable as he is retiring. 



ANDREW CORNWALL. 



It is many yeai'S since Jefferson county has had a 
Democratic representative in the Legislature. For a long 
period in the annals of politics it could be depended upon 
for rousing majorities for the Whig and Republican can- 
didates. Last year the Second Assembly District was 
represented by Hon. Albert Shaw, Republican, Avho 
was elected to the Assembly by a majority of eleven 
hundred and fifty-four. He was a candidate for re-elec- 
tion last Fall, but the large majority given him the 
previous year was overcome by Mr. Cornwall, who was 
chosen by a majority of four hundred and five. Local 
causes, undoubtedly, contributed to a considerable extent 
to this result ; but it is j^roper to say that the flattering 
vote given to the present member was in a great measure 
due to his personal popularity. 

Mr. Cornwall was born at Pultneyville, Wayne 
county. New York, in 1814, and on the 25th of March last 
celebrated his 54th birth-day. His parents wei-e natives 
of Old Chatham (now Portland), Connecticut, who 
removed to Wayne county about the year 1800. After 



ANDREW CORNWALL, iil9 

attending school nntil thirteen years of age, he entered a 
country store as clerk. In 1844, he removed to Alexan- 
dria Bay, Jefferson county, his present residence, and 
opened a store, and has continued in mercantile business 
there for the past twenty-one years. From his youth Mr. 
Cornwall has taken a lively interest in politics, always 
acting with the Democratic party. For eleven successive 
years he has been Supervisor of the town of Alexandria. 
In 1865, he was the Democratic candidate for Senator for 
the Eighteenth District, against Hon. John O'Donxell, 
but the district being largely Republican, he was of 
course defeated. 

During the Rebellion he was one of the War Commit- 
tee of his county, and as Supervisor of his town, filled all 
the quotas for volunteers promptly, and with less local 
bounty than was required for any other town in the 
county, that furnished as many men. 

Mr. Cornwall is possessed of sound common sense, is 
prudent and thoughtful, and always watchful of the inter- 
ests of his constituents. His address is pleasant and his 
manner courteous. In the Assembly he makes no pre- 
tension to oratorical display, and seldom takes up time in 
debate. He is a member of the Committees on Ways and 
Means, Manufacture of Salt, and Sub-committee of the 
Whole. 



NATHANIEL DAILY. 



Mr. Daily is a staunch member of the Republican party. 
His political antecedents, prior to 1856, were Democratic; 
in fact, he held the oiRce of Justice of the Peace by favor 
of the Democrats as early as the year 184T, and has con- 
tinued to hold it for the last twenty years. Like thou- 
sands of otliers, however, who are not completely " wed- 
ded to their idols," he energetically entered into the 
movements which resulted in the formation of the Repub- 
lican party. From that time to the present, Mr. Daily 
has been found on the pioneer lines of political advance- 
ment. He unhesitatingly indorses the measures adopted 
by Congress to restore the South to the rights and 
privileges of the government; and believes that those 
measures are sufficiently lenient to meet the demands of 
mercy, and the approval of every loyal heart. 

Mr. Daily was born in Hampton, Washington county, 
N. Y., October 3, 1813. His father followed farming as an 
occupation. But during the conflict between this coun- 
try and Great Britain, in 1812, he gave up his agricul- 
tural calling and entered the army, returning to his 
former pursuits at the termination of the war. His son 
Nathaxiel, the subject of this article, received as good 
an education as was aftbrded by the common schools of 
that time. Having mingled the toil of the farm with 
the toil of the school room during his youth, he also 
became a farmer. But he likewise possessed business 
sagacity, and, as a consequence, speculated from time to 
time in cattle, sheep and wool, until, at last, no small 
amount of his means and attention was turned in that 
direction. 



JOHN MARTIX DAVIS. 221 

Dnrino; tlie recent war at the South, when homes were 
being made dark by the devastations of battles which laid 
low the pride of many a northern household, Mr. Daily 
was elected Chairman of the Town War Committee 
appointed to raise men and means for the relief of an 
endangered government. In 1862, he was elected Justice 
of Sessions, and re-elected in 1863. He was elected to the 
present Legislature by 152 majority. He serves on the 
Committee on Public Lands. 

Mr. Daily is a good legislator, possessing a strong 
mind and good judgment, qualities which peculiarly fit 
him for the position he occupies. 



JOHN MARTIN DAVIS. 



Mr. Davis was born August 9th, 1826, in the town of 
Lima, Livingston county. His grand-father, Ezra Davis, 
was of Welsh extraction, but a native of the State of Con- 
necticut. He was one of the early volunteers in the great 
struggle for the independence of the colonies ; and during 
that long and eventful period of our National history, was 
in the ranks of the army, doing much credit to himself, and 
valuable service to his country. 

His father Martin Davis, born in Columbia county, 
State of New York, w^as one of the pioneers in the early 
settlement of what was then, and is still known as the 
Genesee country, and was identified with the early history, 
the rapid growth, and final prosperity of that rich and 
productive region. He, too, like his father Ezra, as a 
citizen soldier, performed military service for his country, 
being engaged along the Canada lines in the war of 1812 ; 



222 LIFE SKETCHES. 

but subsequently becoming a member of the religioits 
Society of Friends — a body opposed in theory and in 
principle to the art of war — he declined to receive from the 
general government the bounty afterwards provided by 
Congress for the soldiers of the war of 1812. Ignoring to 
a great extent the exciting subject of politics, he devoted 
his time during the remainder of his life to agriculture 
and the careful training of his somewhat large family of 
children, of which the subject of this sketch is the eighth. 

Ml'. Davis received as his principal legacy from his 
father's estate a fair common school education and the 
precepts of a parent alive to the best interests of his 
children. He has served by appointment and election, as 
superintendent of common schools in the town of Mendon, 
Monroe county, where he now resides. Also, by appoint- 
ment and election, as a Justice of the Peace for the 
same time ; represented the town in the board of Super- 
visors of Monroe county in the year 1861, was re-elected in 
1862, and also in 1867. He was a candidate for member 
of Assembly from the first Assembly district of Monroe 
county in 1866, but received the minority vote by fifteen 
ballots, occasioned undoubtedly by a difiiculty in the 
Republican party growing out of the election of a member 
of Congress in the Twenty-eighth Congressional district 
of New York, of which the first Assembly district of 
Monroe forms a part. In the fall of 1867, he was again 
nominated, and was elected. 

Mr. Davis is a man of sterling worth. Plis judgment 
is ripe and discerning ; his principles pure and inflexible • 
his action generally judicious and taken with energy. He 
is ever at the post of duty, and fearless in meeting all its 
demands. He has secured the confidence and respect of 
his associates in the House, and makes a valuable working 
member. 



LEWIS p. DAYTON. 



Dr. Daytox is a native of the county which he in part 
represents. He conies of the staunch stock of the Puri- 
tans, being descended in a direct line from Johx Daytox, 
who was one of the little band that came over in the May- 
flower. From that remote ancestor are descended all 
those bearing that name living in America. The parents 
of Dr. Dayton removed from Connecticut to Erie county, 
New York, in 1814. At that day Western New York 
was comparatively a wilderness, and bold indeed Avas the 
pioneer who could venture to establish his home in its 
midst. Buftalo was then an insignificant village, recently 
reduced to ashes by British incendiaries, and Black Rock 
loomed up as the principal town of that county, and, 
indeed, of that section of the State. For years afterward 
it was questionable which of these villages would eventu- 
ally be the city, which nature seemed to have marked out 
to lie at the foot of Lake Erie. 

In that county, in the felicitously named town of 
Eden, on the 10th day of October, 1820, the future 
physician, Avhose life we now outline, first saw the light. 
He learned the rudimentary branches at the little school 
house near his country home, and then was sent at difier- 
ent periods to Aurora and Springville Academies for 
a more advanced educational ti'aining. Having resolved 
to become a disciple of Esculapius, Mr. Day'ton went to 
the Geneva Medical College, from which, in due time, he 
received his professional degree. Settling in the village 
of Black Rock, since swallowed up by the ambitious city 
of Buftalo, our now Dr. Dayton entered upon the practice 



224 LIFE SKETCHES. 

of his profession, which has since grown to be very large. 
In 1852, Dr. Daytox, Avho had always taken a deep 
interest in the canse of education, was elected Superin- 
tendent of Schools in his adopted village. Subsequently, 
Black Rock having become the twelfth Ward of Buffalo, 
Dr. Daytox was elected Alderman. In 1855, and again 
in 1859, he was President of the Buffalo Common Council. 
In 1864, he was elected County Clerk of Erie county, 
running considerably ahead of his ticket, as he invariably 
does. This office he held until the first of January, 1&68. 
Last fall in a district which gave the RejDublican general 
ticket nearly 300 majority, and which in 1866 sent a 
Republican Assemblyman, Dr. Daytox, though a Dem- 
ocrat as he has always been, received a majority of 42 
over his competitor. 

In making up the committees of the Assembly, the 
Speaker placed Dr. Daytox on Canals and on Public 
Health. At the Democractic joint caucus to nominate a 
Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Dr. Daytox was called 
to preside. 

The Doctor is not a " talking member," yet there are 
few men in the Assembly who exert greater influence, or 
attend more closely to their official duties. Of strict 
integrity, and possessing no little experience in public 
affairs. Dr. Daytox is a man whose public career does 
honor to himself, and who, by his sacrifice of private 
interest to look after the public good, is entitled to the 
gratitude of all friends of honest and intellio-ent leofislation. 



JOHN DECKER, 



Mr. Decker is j^erhaps more widely known in the city 
of New York than any of her representatives. He was 
born in the Third Ward in February, 1823; and, when 
old enough, was sent by his parents to the public school in 
Fulton street. At the age of fifteen he shipped as cook on 
board of a vessel employed in the coasting trade. But 
though of an adventurous turn, he did not relish this mode 
of life, and accordingly returned home the next year, 
where he remained till he became of age. In 1844 he 
joined the Volunteer Fire Department of the city of New 
York, and belonged to Engine 14. In 1848 he was elected 
Assistant Foreman, and re-elected in 1849. The next 
year he became Foreman, but declined a second election. 
In 1853 he was chosen Assistant Engineer, and was 
re-elected in 1866 and 1859. At this period he was pei*- 
haps the most popular man in the Fire Department. He 
was elected Chief Engineer in 1861 and again in 1863. 
Two years afterward the Metropolitan Fire Department 
was established by the Legislature, and Mr. Decker was 
thus removed from office. He made his residence at Port 
Richmond, on Staten Island, and has been ever since 
engaged in real estate business. In the Fall of ISeY he was 
nominated by the Democrats to represent Richmond county 
in the Assembly, and received 2,336 votes, a majority of 
1,096. He is a member of the committee on State Prisons, 
and Sub-Committee of the Whole, and is a hard-working 
and popular representative. 

Mr. Decker took an active part in the organization of 
the 1st and 2nd Regiments of Fire Zouaves, and was 
29 



226 LIFE SKETCHES. 

elected Colonel of the Second. He held the position while 
the incipient steps were taken, and then resigned. He was 
often at the seat of w^ar, attending to the wants of his 
former associates, particularly after they had been engaged 
in battle. In this way, as well as by his unfailing cour- 
tesy and obliging temper, he became regarded as the father 
and counsellor of the lirenien and their friends. 



HIRAM EATON. 



Mr. Eaton's ancestors were natives of Xew England. 
He was born in Manlius, Onondaga county, New York, 
June 20, 1808, and is, therefore, nearly sixty years old, 
though he has the appearance of being much younger. 

For several years he was engaged in the transportation 
business on the Erie canal, but since 1853, has been engaged 
in banking, and is, at the present time. Cashier of the 
Fayetteville National Bank. He was formerly a Whig, 
but since the Republican party has been in existence, has 
uniformly supported its principles and candidates. He 
was elected to the Assembly by a majority of 316, and 
serves on the Committee on Salt. 



BENJAMIN FARLEY. 



Mr. Farley is one of that class of intelligent farmers 
Avho constitute the happiest and most useful of our 
citizens. He was born in Salem, Massachusetts, October 
4, 1810, of parents, Avhose ancestors came from England. 
In 1815 his parents settled in the town of Pompey, Onon- 
dao-a county. After remaining at this latter place some 
time they removed to Leroy, Genesee county. Here the 
subject of this sketch attained his majority, gaining that 
strength of body which a life upon a farm tends to impart, 
and that vigor of mind which may be obtained from 
a good common school education, and the great lessons to 
be learned from the broad ])ages of the book of nature. 
Becoming a voter he allied himself with the Whig party. 
In 1842, he moved into Niagara county, going bravely to 
Avork upon a portion of land Avhich Avas then a Avilderness. 
He Avas soon called upon to fill various tOAvn offices, and 
in 1857 he Avas elected by the Republican party to the 
office of Sheriff, and in the discharge of the duties of that 
office gave universal satisfaction. In 1865, he filled the 
office of Supervisor of his toAvn. During the rebellion he 
was very active and efficient in raising money and securing 
men to fill the several quotas of his town. In 1867 he 
Avas elected to the present Assembly, from the Second 
District of Niagara county. 

Mi\ Farley takes great interest in agricultural affi\irs, 
and in aiding to bring the truths of science to bear upon 
the tillage of the soil. He has served as President of the 
Agricultural Society of his town and also of that of his 
county. 



RICHARD FLACH. 



Mr. Flach, who repi-esents the Second District of Erie 
county in the Assembly, is a native of Saxony, and is 
thirty-five years okl. He immigrated with his parents to 
this country, and settled in Buftalo when he M'as about 
fourteen years of age. He received a good education at 
a Seminary in Saxony, and in private schools in Buffalo. 
He has always resided in Buifalo since coming to this 
country, except for two years, which he spent in traveling 
through the Southern States. He is a merchant. 

Mr. Flach is a Democrat. In 1860, he Avas chosen 
Supervisor, and from 1862 to 1866 was an Alderman. In 
1868, he held a position as Lieutenant in the 65th Regi- 
ment New York State Militia, and served in the Pennsyl- 
vania campaign, imder orders from Governor Seymour. 
He is now Colonel of the regiment, and is interested in 
everything that tends to promote the welfare of the Home 
Guard of the State. He was elected to the Assembly by 
a majority of four hundred and ninety-six over our old 
friend, Geokge W. Bull. 

Mr. Flach is chairman of the Committee on Militia, and 
a member of the Committee on Aliens, and is prompt and 
faithful in the discharo;e of his Legislative duties. 



JOHN LAMSON FLAGG. 



Mr. Flagg was born in Nashua, New Hampshire, Sep- 
tember 11th, 1836. His boyhood, up to the age of twelve, 
was spent in the place of his nativity. In 1848, his 
parents removed with him to Troy, New York, where he 
has ever since resided. Being desirous of obtaining a 
good classical education, he prepared for college in the 
schools of Troy, and, in 1853, entered Harvard. While at 
that institution, he ranked well as a student, and Avas 
highly esteemed for his gentlemanly qualities. He gradu- 
ated in 1857. Soon afterwards, as a first step toward the 
study of the profession of the law, Mr. Flagg entered the 
law office of the late Hon. David L. Seymour, who was 
then in business with Hon. George Van Santvoord, 
both of whom had a wide reputation for their vigorous 
legal acumen. Meanwhile, he attended lectures at the 
Albany Law School. In the month of December, 1858, 
the degree of LL.B. was conferred upon him, by that 
institution ; and he was thereupon admitted to the Bar. 
A short time subsequent, a partnership was formed 
between himself and the late Hon. Job Pierso:^, a law- 
yer of repute. This partnership w^as terminated by the 
death of Mr. Pierson, in 1861. Shortly after that occur- 
rence, Mr. Flagg formed a partnership with Jacob Geb- 
HARD RuNKLE, of Schoharie county, under the name of 
RuxKLE ct Flagg, which still exists. At about this time 
he received the degree of A. M. at Harvard; and in 1867, 
the honorary degree of A. M. from Union, At the bar, 
he is recognized as a lawyer of sound judgment and many 



230 LIFE SKETCHES, 

acquirements ; and is remarkable for liis equanimity of 
temper, even when jDoints go against his caiise. 

But, in addition to his knowledge of the law, he has 
taken pains to cultivate a fine literary taste. He early 
identified himself with the Young Men's Association of 
Troy, an organization well knoAvn in literary circles as 
being one of the most active and flourishing in the Union. 
The Debating Society connected therewith first elected 
him as its President. Subsequently he was elected Corres- 
ponding Secretary of the Association proper, and, in that 
capacity, he arranged a course of lectures. The Associa- 
tion afterwards still further honored him by electing him 
President. 

Mr. Flagg has always been a Democrat. Under the 
auspices of the Democracy, he was elected member of the 
Board of Education in March, 1860, and served two years, 
representing the Third Ward of his city. He proved to 
be an eflicient ofiicer, having the true educational interests 
of the people at heart, by introducing many reformatory 
measures into the schools. He was among the leading* 
members of the Board. 

In March, 1862, he was elected Police Justice of 
Troy, by a large majority, in which capacity he served for 
three years. As Police Justice he acquired a reputation 
for vigorously enforcing the laws against persons who were 
clearly guilty ; and toward the close of his term, many a 
villainous fellow who had broken the laws, knew that he 
Avould have a good measure of justice meted out to him by 
Justice Flagg. Such measures were indeed essential to 
the good of Society, for crime seemed rampant in that 
locality. 

In the spi-ing of 1866, the office of Mayor of the city 
of Troy was conferred upon him by a majority of 350 
against his opponent, though his predecessor was of the 



JOHN LAMSON FLAGG. 231 

opposite political faith, and the city was in the hands of 
the Republicans. 

During the year of his mayoralty, the Common Council 
over which he presided, was politically a tie, there being 
eleven uiembers of each party ; and a sharp contest was 
kept np for the control of the local legislation. On those 
occasions, he displayed an intimate knowledge of parlia- 
mentary rules, and good executive ability. This state of 
affairs concerning the Common Council, of course became 
very unpleasant, therefore, during the session of the 
Legislature, in 1867, a bill was introduced to take away 
the right of the mayor to vote. The passage of such 
a law w^ould have broken the tie in the Common Council 
of Troy. The proposed measure caused no small excite- 
ment in that city, and had the effect to produce an elabo- 
rate presentation of the subject before the Committee on 
Cities, by which the bill was favorably reported to the 
Assembly ; but it never became a law. 

At the city election, in March, Mr. Flagg was re-elected 
mayor by five hundred majority; and, inasmuch as his 
party also secured a majority in the Common Council, he 
has probably had a pleasanter official year than before. 

Last Fall he was elected to the Assembly by a majority 
of ten hundred and forty, although his predecessor, who 
was a Republican, had received a majority of eight hun- 
dred and fourteen. 

On the oi'ganization of the present Legislature, his name 
was prominently used as candidate for Speaker. Mr. 
HiTCHMAN, however, was the choice of the majority ; and 
consequently, Mr. Flagg was rightfully made Chairman 
of the Committee of Ways and Means, the most important 
position below the Speakership. He is likewise a member 
of the Committee on Federal Relations. In his labors in 
committees, he is patient and industrious, and manifests a 



232 LIFE SKETCHES. 

good broad judgment. In the Assembly, he shows a fair 
and courteous spirit in debate, and makes friends in both 
parties. 

He is a director of the Troy City National Bank, and is 
also an officer of the Troy & Lansingburgh Horse Rail- 
road Company, and President of the Rensselaer Park 
Association. His father, John Flagg, Esq., has for years 
held a position of wealth and influence in Troy ; and 
to-day is counted among the leading citizens of that city. 
In 1 860, Mr. Flagg, the subject of this article, married 
Miss Ellen H. Brown, of Providence, Rhode Island, a 
lady of superior accomplishments, possessing excellent 
taste in literature and art. Her name is known to the 
public as that of a poetess ; and her pleasant social attain- 
ments are appreciated by a wide circle of friends. 



FREDERICK H. FLAGGE. 



Mr. Flagge was born in Hanover, Germany, December 
12th, 1829, He belongs to a respectable family, and 
received an excellent education in the public schools, 
becoming proficient in German literature, and learning 
both the French and English languages. On coming to 
manhood he emigrated to this country and took up his 
residence in the city of New York. He engaged in mer- 
cantile business and has been for many years an extensive 
dealer in groceries. More recently he has carried on busi- 
ness in the 22d Ward, although he formerly resided in the 
Eighth. As was very natural, he always bore his part in 
Ward politics, and held, for a time, a place on the Tam- 
many Hall General Committee. A year ago he was 
dropped off by the managers of the party, and was placed 
in nomination by the Mozart Democrats for the Assembly 
in the 17th District, against Colonel Joel W. Mason, 
Republican. The result was his election by the handsome 
plurality of 436 votes. 

Mr. Flagge is a quiet man, minding his own business, 
kind-hearted and always ready to do a good turn for a 
friend. He is a little inclined to impatience, however, when 
business becomes prosy ; evidently believing that a legis- 
lator should be wide awake and active, neither fooling 
away time nor spending it stupidly. 

30 



ALEXANDER FREAR. 



In the seventeenth century, three brothers, Huguenots, 
bearing the name of Fkear, obtauied from the United 
States of Holland a grant of lands on the Hudson River, 
now embraced in the counties of Ulster and Dutchess. 
Their descendants are still numerous in that region, and 
are generally thrifty, i^rosperous citizens. Several of them 
have been characterized by their deep interest in politics. 
When the Republicans of this State were divided between 
the supporters of General Daniel D. Tompkins and the 
friends of DeWitt Clinton, partisan feeling ran very 
high. Mr, James B. Freae, of Poughkeepsie, a man of 
active mind and character, was foremost among the 
" Bucktails," and retained the ascendency in the party in 
Dutchess county till the period of his death, in 1833. He 
was the father of the present member from New York, 

Alexander Freak was born at Poughkeepsie, on the 
18th day of August, 1820. He received a common school 
education, and also attended the academy in his native 
town. He began at an early age to display an aptness for 
business. At fourteen he was a clerk in a store in Pough- 
keepsie, and three years later went to New York " to seek 
his fortune," When only nineteen, he became a partner 
in the house of Sheldon & Company, in Pearl street. 
He remained there till 1848, when he established the 
importing house of Alexander Frear & Company, in 
New York, with branches in Chicago and Galena. This 
firm carried on a heavy business with great success, till the 
financial revulsion of 1857. The effects of this crisis were 



ALEXANDER FREAR. 235 

even more disastrous at the West tlian in New York, and 
the establishment was compelled to close up its affairs. 

Mr. Freak now entered more deeply into politics, and 
was elected to the Board of Councilmen from the Seventh 
Senatorial District. The next year he Avas chosen Alder- 
man for the Eleventh District, consisting of the Twentieth 
ATard of the city of New York. In his official duties he 
displayed energy as indefotigable as that which had 
characterized him as a man of business. 

When the rebellion broke out he was among the fore- 
most in sustaining the Government, and employed his 
official as well as personal influence to secure the adoption 
of measures for furnishing men and money for the service 
of the country. His zeal in the matter disturbed for a 
time his political relations, and e took the lead in organ- 
izing a Union Association in the twentieth ward, in the 
autumn of 1861, comprising Democrats and Republicans, 
and electing its candidates for the Assembly and other 
offices. 

In 1865, Mr. Frear was the Tammany candidate for 
the Assembly, and was elected by a plurality of about 
eight hundred votes over Oliver Charlick, the Mozart 
candidate, who had also a Republican nomination. In 
1866 he was re-elected, receiving 2,671 votes, a plurality 
of over one thousand. Last fall he was again elected 
by a plurality of 434 ; the Democratic vote being divided 
between five candidates. By virtue of his position and 
his known sagacity, he is recognized as a leader of the 
House. He is always on hand, wary and indefatigable, 
and directs the principal movements of his political asso- 
ciates. Though never distinguished as a debater, he is 
one of the most effective and successful men that ever 
engaged in public business, and he always has enough on 
hand to occupy his attention. To superintend the details 



236 LIFE SKETCHES. 

of party management, bring up the wayward and lagging, 
and see that everything receives attention in its turn, are 
duties constantly devolving upon him and thoroughly dis- 
charged. Yet he generally makes friends, and has always 
been as popular with his political adversaries as with his 
own associates. He is Chairman of the Committee on 
Cities — a very responsible position. 



ROBERT FURMAN. 



Mr. FuRMAX, the member from Schenectady county, 
is a native of Oneida county. New York, and is now forty- 
two years of age. For twenty-five years past he has been 
a resident of the city of Schenectady, and is, therefore, 
as much identified with its business interests as though a 
native to the manor born. 

Most of the time, during his residence in Schenectady, 
his attention has been given to the dry goods trade, 
though for several years past he has conducted cases 
before the courts of law ; he having been admitted as an 
Attorney and Counsellor, besides permitted to practice in 
the United States Circuit Coui-t. 

Shortly after the enactment of the law constituting our 
present system of a State National Guard, he was com- 
missioned, by Governor Seymour, as Colonel of the 83d 
Regiment. The duties of the new position, conferred 
without solicitation and surjDrising the recipient, were of 
an order to make a civilian shrink from their acceptance, 
bestowed, as it was, during the progress of the late war. 



ROBERT FURMAN. 237 

Avhen militarj'- criticism ran high and charity for novices 
at military training was by no means a rule of guidance. 
Colonel FuRMAN immediately took hold of his new duties 
with a Avill, and upon the first annual parade and inspec- 
tion of the S3d Regiment, not merely surprised spectators 
and furloughed military men with the numerical strength 
and esjyrit of his Kegiment, but received the commenda- 
tion of the General commanding the Brigade. The 83d 
Regiment still preserves its military bearing, second to no 
other regiment in the State outside of New York city. 

Colonel FuRMAN has ever been identified with the 
politics of his adopted county. As a firm, consistent 
member of the Democratic party, he has been honored on 
more than one occasion with delegated positions of repre- 
sentative trust. His first ofiice in the service of his 
county and State is that of Member of Assembly, now 
held. He was chosen, after a most animated canvass, 
by a majority of fifty votes; overcoming a majority of 
nearly five hundred votes obtained by his Republican 
predecessor. In the Assembly, Colonel Furmax has been 
designated as Chairman of the Committee on Education. 
He also serves on the Committees on " Public Lands," and 
" Roads and Bridges." 

That live enterprise of the age, the conception and 
completion of railroads, has ever met with a warm friend 
in the person of the member from Schenectady. No one 
in the city named was more instrumental in projecting 
and carrying out the noted Athens Railroad, or " cut ofi"," 
as commonly termed. The preliminary survey line for 
that direct and demanded railway from Schenectady to 
Ogdensburgh — or rather from New York to the Canadas 
— known as the Northern Rairoad, which will come up 
for further action at the present legislative session, was 
only undertaken and accomplished through the strenuous 



238 LIFE SKETCHES. 

efforts of Colonel Fukjiax, in securing a small appropria- 
tion for purposes of the survey. The latter extending 
through a perfect wilderness of woods, seventy miles in 
extent, pi'oved a most important and noticeable under- 
taking. 

This sketch would not be complete without brief allu- 
sion to a handsome and commodiovis armory building now 
in process of construction, at Schenectady, and designed 
for the use of the Eighty-third Regiment State National 
Guards. The appropriation for the same Avas only secured 
by the personal efforts of the representative from Schen- 
ectady. The structure when complete will be an ornament 
to the city, and a standing monument to its jDrojecting 
spirit. Enough has been wi'itten to show that, in all 
matters pertaining to the interests of Schenectady, and 
the material welfare of the Commonwealth, the present 
member. Colonel Robert Fursiais^, is not wanting in 
attributes of energy and progressive improvement. 



JOHN GALVIN. 



The Emerald Isle, to whose sons, in so many ways, our 
country is indebted, and to which the Legislature of 1868 
is indebted for not less than thirteen members, is also the 
fatherland of Mr. Galvin. He was born in Kings county, 
Ireland, in April, 1840. When six years old he was 
brought by his parents to America ; they settling in the 
city of New York. His education was such as was 
aiforded by the public schools of the Metropolis. Mr. 
Galyix by occupation is a liquor dealer, on Grand street. 
He has always taken a deep interest in the political issues 
of the day; acting invariably with the Democratic party. 
In 1866 he was a nominee for the Assembly, but was 
defeated by one thousand majority. In 1867, in the same 
district, he was triumphantly elected, receiving the deci- 
dedly flattering majority of eighteen hundred votes. The 
present is the first political position he ever held. For 
several years however, he has been one of the General 
Committee of Tammany Hall, Avhich has elevated so 
many others to political honors. 

Mr. Galvix, in the Assembly, is a member of two 
important Committees — Canals and Insurance. As 
becomes a member serving his first Legislative term, Mr. 
Galvin has watched with scrutiny the course of Legis- 
lation, familiarizing himself with its multifarious and 
multitudinous duties, rather than taking an active par- 
ticipation therein. On one question, however — that of 
the repeal of the Metropolitan Excise Law — with which 
his opportunities rendered him especially familiar, Mr. 
Galvix made a brief but telling speech in favor of the 



240 LIFE SKETCHES. 

repeal of the j)resent laAV, and of vesting the powers of 
the Board with the city authorities. Although dealing in 
liquors, he is himself strictly temperate in his habits, 
never having drank a glass of liquor or used tobacco in 
any shape. 



SANFORD GIFFORD, 



Mr. GiFFORD is serving his first term in the Legislature 
of the State ; but notwithstanding this fact, he brings to 
his use no little experience as a business man, and no small 
amount of parliamentary knowledge, for his life has been 
an active one, both in public and private. He is prompt 
in his acts, brief in the expression of his opinions and 
devoid of ostentation. He was among the first who entered 
the Republican ranks, and has always continued to act in 
accordance with the principles advocated by that party. 
During the month of March, 1856, Mr. Gifford was 
elected Supervisor of the town of Ledyard, Cayuga 
county, and from that time to March, 1867, he held the 
same office for every successive term. During four years 
of that i^eriod he was Chairman of the Board, and for five 
years he was Chairman of the Committee on Equalization. 
Though his term of office as Supervisor expired in the 
Spring of 1867, yet the people were anxious to extend the 
field of his usefulness, and therefore nominated him for 
Member of the Assembly. His majority was very compli- 
mentary, being 1533. He is a member of the Committee 
on Trade and Manufactures. 

Mr. Gifforb was born in the town of Greenfield, Sara- 
toga county, N. Y., but when he was five years old his 



GEORGE M. GLEASON. 241 

parents removed with him to Ledyard, Cayuga county, 
where he has ever since continued to reside. Though Mr. 
GiFFOED is a farmer by occupation, yet he has good ideas 
of finance and trade. He is one of the Directors of the 
First N'ational Bank of Aurora, and also is a member of 
the Executive Committee of the New York Central Insu- 
rance Company. These facts alone are sufficient to show 
in what high estimation he is held at home, and we presume 
that his record in the Assembly will favorably compare 
with that of his more circumscribed fields of action. 



GEORGE M. GLEASON. 



This gentleman, representing the First District of St. 
Lawrence county, was born in what was then called Poto 
Ferry, and which is now the town of Pitcairn, New York. 
He is thirty-eight years of age. 

Mr. Gleasox enjoyed good educational privileges until 
eio-hteen years of age, and commenced life as a teacher, 
which occupation he followed for ten years. Since that 
time he has been engaged in farming. While attending 
with energy to his personal afiairs, he has devoted no 
little of his time to matters afiecting the interests of the 
locality in which he resides; and has five times been 
chosen Supervisor of the town of Pitcairn ; has served five 
years as Justice of the Peace, and four years as Town 
Superintendent of public schools. 

In September, 1861, Mr. Gleason enlisted in the ser- 
vice of the United States, as a private in Company "D," 
31 



242 LIFE SKETCHES. 

60tli Regiment, New York Volunteers. In October fol- 
lowing, he was promoted to the rank of Second Lieutenant, 
in which capacity he served either with his company, then 
stationed at the Relay House, Maryland, guarding the 
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, or in recruiting service at 
Ogdensburgh, until May, 1862, when his regiment was 
ordered to report to Gen. Sigel at Harper's Ferry. Soon 
after their arrival he was appointed Assistant Quarter- 
master of the regiment, and accomj^anied it in its marches 
through the Shenandoah and Rappahannock valleys until 
August, when he was attacked with typhoid fever, in con- 
sequence of Avhich he was reduced from one hundred and 
ninety jjounds to one hundred and eight. The surgeon in 
charge informed him that there was no probability of his 
recovering his health while in active service, and he there- 
fore tendered his resignation, accompanied by the surgeon's 
certificate of disability, which was accejited. In his ema- 
ciated condition he returned home. 

About this time it was ascertained that, although one- 
half of those liable to military duty in his town had 
already enlisted, no credits to the town had been made ; 
and after partially recovering his health, he visited Albany 
and Washington, and succeeded in having those who had 
entered the military service from that locality duly cred- 
ited. He continued active in every movement set on foot 
with a view of reinforcing the army ; aided the families 
of soldiers, and attended personally to the filling of the 
quotas of the town of Pitcairn ; and also, under appoint- 
ment from the Board of Supervisors, acted as one of the 
County Recruiting Agents for St. Lawrence county. 

3Ir. Gleason first entered the Legislature in 1866 ; was 
re-elected to the Assembly of 1867 by an increased 
majority; was appointed one of the Committee on Claims, 
and was Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs. 



ELIJAH M, K. GLENX. 243 

He was returned to the present Assembly, having a larger 
majority than any other candidate upon the ticket. He 
enjoys the confidence and esteem of his constituents; is 
well informed in regard to the aifairs of the State ; is an 
undemonstrative but efl:ective speaker, and having the 
advantage of experience, is one of the most useful of the 
members of the present Assembly, 



ELIJAH M. K. GLENN. 



Mr. Glbxx was born of Scottish parentage, in Amster- 
dam, in this State, August 12th, 1807. His education 
in early life was limited. La his boyhood he learned the 
trade of a shoemaker, and continued to work at it for 
some years. When he arrived at manhood, in 1836, he 
identified himself with the anti-slavery movement. When 
a division in the ranks of the Abolitionists on the right 
and duty to vote under the Federal Constitution, took 
place, Mr. Glexx advocated the duty of voting. From 
1838 to 1857, Mr. Glexx spent nearly fifteen years in 
lecturing on slavery, land reform and kindred topics. He 
held that all slave laws were void ; that by the law 
of God and nature, the slave, as every man, was free, and 
that wicked men could not make valid laws to enslave him. 
Mr. Glexx advocated the doctrine that the Federal 
Government held the public lands in trust for the landless; 
that the Government had no right to sell in large parcels 
to speculators. 

Mr. Glenx married at about twenty-one years of age. 
He has now living five sons and one daughter. His 
youngest child is nearly twenty-five years of age. He 



244 LIFE SKETCHES. 

resided in Montgomery county during the first forty years 
of his life, and for the last twenty years in Macedon, 
Wayne county. He has held some trifling town oflices in 
Florida and Macedon. He was a keeper in Sing Sing 
Prison from May, 1857, to September, 1859, and was 
Postmaster at Macedon from June, 1861, to March, 1866. 
For forty years he has been a strict temperance man, and 
believes in promoting the cause solely by moral suasion, 
and has no faith in prohibitory laws. 

In 1828, he cast his first vote for John Q. Adams for 
President. In 1840, he came to Albany to unite in the 
organization of the Liberty Party, and voted the Liberty 
ticket until the formation of the Republican Party ; so in 
1856 he went for "Free men and Feemont." In 1860, he 
gave his preference to Mr. Sewaed as a candidate, but 
cheerfully acquiesced in the nomination of Mr. Lincoln. In 
1864, he did not think it wise to " swap horses in crossing 
the stream ;" — he preferred Lincoln to any or all others. 
From the nomination of Mr. Lincoln, in 1860, to the day 
of his death, he had full and unwavering faith in his wis- 
dom and integrity, and of course fully and cordially 
supjDorted his administration and mourned his untimely 
death. 

On the question of Reconstruction, as between President 
Johnson and Congress, he sides with Congress. He holds 
that " the loyal element, whether white or black, should 
form the nucleus or foundation around or upon which to 
construct, and that rebels and traitors can claim no voice 
in a government they have sought to destroy." 

Mr. Glenn was elected to the Assembly from the First 
District of Cayuga county. He is a fine looking old gen- 
tleman, always in his seat during the sessions of the House, 
and closely watching its proceedings so that he may vote 
understandingly. 



THEODORE GUIGOU. 



Mr. GuiGOU is a native of Marseilles, France, where he 
was born January 8, 1817. With the exception of his son 
he is the only person by the name in the United States. 
He came with his father, Augustus Guigou, to this country 
in 1820. He received an excellent education, graduating 
from Columbia College in 1835. 

Mr. Guigou resides at Shandaken, Ulster county, where 
he has been extensively engaged in the tanning business 
for many years. His integrity in business transactions, 
and his kindly and pleasant manner, have made him very 
popular, and he occupies a prominent and influential 
position among his neighbors. He has been Supervisor, 
and held many other local offices. He was elected to the 
Assembly on the Democratic ticket, by a majority of 533, 
over David C. Geiffix, Republican. He is attentive and 
faithful to his duties in the Legislature, and his intelli- 
gence and superior judgment make him a valuable member. 
He was assigned by the Speaker to the Committees on 
Public Education and Agriculture. 



JAMES M, HALSEY. 



Mr. Halsey represents Suffolk county, having been 
elected to the Assembly by the Democracy of that county 
by about 500 majority. He comes of excellent stock, his 
father being English and his mother Scotch in their origin. 
He Avas born in the town of Bridgehampton, Suffolk county, 
N, Y., May 22d, 1825. He enjoyed fair opportunities for 
obtaining a common school education, and made the most of 
them by diligent study. He has been engaged in farming 
during the greater portion of his life, but for the last six 
years, in addition to conducting the affixirs of a fine 
farm, has been engaged in mercantile business. In all his 
undertakings he has been very succesful. Mr. Halsey is 
and has been a firm supporter of the principles and candi- 
dates of the Democratic Party. He has held several town 
offices, and has served four years in the Ncav York Custom 
House. 

Mr. Halsey is not a public speaker, and discharges his 
legislative duties by committee work and by means of 
conversation. He is a member of the Committee on State 
Charitable Institutions and also of the Committee on 
the Affairs of Villages. He is well qualified for either 
position, for while a friend to all real advancements and 
improvements, he is a rigid economist. 



ANTHONY HARTMAN 



Mr. Hartma^c was bora March 18tb, 1835, in the city of 
New York. He is of German pai-entage, and received but 
a common school education. When about fifteen years of 
age he went to work in the tobacco manufacturing estab- 
lishment of JoHisr AiSTDERSOX, in New York city, and left 
there about tAvo years after, to enter the establishment of 
C. H. LiLLiEiS^THAL, wlicrc he remained about seven years, 
when the establishment was destroyed by fire. While 
employed there, his I'ight hand was caiight in the ma- 
chinery, by which he lost part of his thumb, and came 
near losing the hand. 

He joined the Fire Department July 31st, 1856, as a 
member of Live Oak Engine Company, No. 44, in the old 
Volunteer Fire Department, and served his full term. In 
1861, he assisted in raising a company in the Anderson 
Zouaves, afterwards known as the Sixty-second Regiment 
New York Volunteers. He was elected Second Lieuten- 
ant, and served nineteen weeks, when he left the service 
on account of losing a son, about three years old, by 
death. Li the Fall of 1861, he took an active part in 
politics with his party (Democratic). On the 20th day of 
January, 1862, he was appointed to a clerkship in the 
Street Department, at a salary of one thousand dollars per 
annum, which was increased to fifteen hundred after he 
had been there a year. 

Li 1864 he joined one of the companies of the Eighty- 
fourth Regiment, National Guard, State of New York, as 
a private, and was only five weeks a member when he was 
promoted to a first lieutenancy. The regiment was called 



248 LIFE SKETCHES. 

out to serve one hundred days, and he accompanied it, 
serving in Maryland and Virginia. After returning home 
he was again promoted, to a captaincy, but resigned in 
May last, on account of business engagements. 

In the Fall of 1865 he was nominated and elected Coun- 
cilman in New York by a large majority, notwithstanding 
there was great opposition to him. He was re-elected the 
following year for the term of one year, when the Legis- 
lature of 1867 extended the term another year. In 1867, 
he was elected to the Assembly from the Tenth District, 
New York city, on the Tammany Hall ticket, by twelve 
hundred and fifteen majority. The preceding year the 
Tammany Hall candidate had been defeated in the district 
by two hundred and ten votes. The district has a strong 
German population, and his constituents have great confi- 
dence in him. On the 15th of February, 1867, they pre- 
sented him with a splendid gold watch. He is a man 
of ready parts, very popular in the House, and faithful 
in the discharge of his duties. 



ABRAHAM E. HASBROUCK 



Mr. Hasbrouck represents the Second Assembly Dis- 
trict of Ulster. He is a descendant of one of the original 
French Huguenots, who came to this country in 1680, and 
settled at Kingston, Ulster county, and afterwards became 
one of the proprietors, or " twelve men," to whom was 
granted the Paltz Patent. He was born July '7th, 1832. 
He received a good common school education, and passed 
one winter at Professor Fay's Academy at Poughkeepsie. 

Mr. Hasbrouck has been for the past eighteen years 
largely engaged in the freighting business from New Paltz 
Landing to New York city, running the barge " Ulster 
County," one of the largest of its class on the Hudson 
river, and carrying to market the agricultural products of 
the fertile valley of the Walkill. In this capacity he gave 
general satisfaction to the farmers and business men of 
that locality. 

Mr. Hasbrouck became interested in politics about the 
time of the organization of the American party, with 
which he identified himself, and became an active member. 
When that party ceased to exist he entered the ranks 
of the Democratic party, and has remained ever since one 
of its strongest supporters. He has held several town 
offices, and has often been pressed by his fellow townsmen 
to accept the nomination for the office of Supervisor, but 
would never consent to take it. In the fall of 1866, he 
was the candidate of the Democratic party for the office 
he now holds, but his district being strongly Republican 
and his opponent being a remarkably strong one — Hon. 
Jacob Le Fever — he was defeated. At the late election 
32 



250 LIFE SKETCHES. 

he was again put in nomination, and was elected by a 
majority of 470, running about 200 ahead of his ticket. 

Ml-. Hasbrouck is a member of the Committee on 
Banks, Engrossed Bills, and Sub-Committee of the Whole, 
and is an active working- member. 



HARRIS B. HOWARD. 



Mr. Howard is a native of Schodack, Rensselaer county, 
New York, where he was born April 27th, 1830. He is of 
English ancestry. During his childhood, his means for 
acquiring an education were limited, and he was obliged 
to accept those afforded by the common school. There is 
but little, in many of the district schools, to stimulate the 
minds of children to very lofty endeavors, as regards 
the acquirement of knowledge. And such was the experi- 
ence of Mr. Howard. But when he grew older, and 
found that the world's horizon extended beyond his boy- 
hood's home, he was eager to mingle in the general effort 
to win success. Possessing ready instincts, and a vast 
deal of self reliance, he was able, after arriving at the age 
of maturity, to command the attention of his fellow- 
townsmen. 

Mr, Howard is a merchant by occupation. He has fol- 
lowed that calling for a number of years. But he also 
has some proclivities for the law, as a profession; and 
though he has never made that a leading feature of his 
aims in life, yet he has practiced with average success in 
Justices' Courts. In the politics of his town, he has for 



MYROX J. HUBBARD. 251 

several years taken no unimportant part ; and while shar- 
ing in the work he has likewise participated in the honors ; 
for he has held nearly every one of the town offices, and 
represented Schodack in the Board of Supervisors for 
three years. He has always been a Democrat, and as such 
has always strictly adhered to the principles of his party. 
He was elected to the Assembly, during the last campaign, 
by 680 majority; whereas his predecessor, a liepublican, 
had a large vote in his favor. 

Mr. Howard is Chairman of the Committee on State 
Charitable Institutions, and is a member of the Commit- 
tee on the Division of ToAvns and Counties. 



MYRON J, HUBBARD, 



Mr. Hubbard is a native of Westford, Otsego county, 
in which town he was born July 27, 1828. Both liis 
grandfathers were soldiers of the Revolution, who came 
from Connecticut and settled in Otsego county while it 
was yet an almost unbroken wilderness. His father was 
a farmer and brought up his son to the same business. 
His education was obtained at the common school. He 
made better use of his advantages than many others who 
have had better facilities for acquiring a good education. 
When he was sixteen years old he commenced teaching 
school, and taught four winters, working on the farm 
during the summer. His occupation has always been that 
of a farmer, with the exception of two years when he was 
in the mercantile business, and four years when he was 



I. 



252 LIFE SKETCHES. 

occxipied in running a flouring and saw mill. He has 
always resided in the same town where he was born. 

Mr. Hubbard has always acted with the Democratic 
party, and by it has been elected to various town offices. 
He was Supervisor in 1854, Town Clerk in 1860, and Jus- 
tice of the Peace in 1862. He was chosen to these 
positions notwithstanding the fact that prior to the Fall 
of 1862, the Democratic party was in a minority in his 
town. In 1862, the town, for the first time, gave a Demo- 
cratic majority, and at that election he was elected Coro- 
ner of the county of Otsego. He was elected Railroad 
Commissioner in 1865, and held the office two years, and 
was re-elected Justice of the Peace in 1866, and is now 
serving his second term. He was elected member of 
Assembly last Fall, by a majority of sixty-two, in a very 
closely contested canvass. At the age of eighteen he 
enlisted in the State militia, and has been connected with 
it ever since, having held all the offices from Second Lieu- 
tenant up to Colonel. He is now Colonel of the Thirty- 
ninth Regiment New York State National Guard. 

At the breaking out of the Rebellion, he, in connection 
with other citizens of the county, commenced recruiting 
volunteers, with the intention of raising a full regiment. 
Five hundred men were rarised, and they were ordered 
into camp at Cherry Valley, Mr. Hubbard acting as 
Lieutenant-Colonel. In June, 1862, he was ordered to 
Albany, where his command was consolidated with parts 
of other regiments and he returned home. 

Mr. Hubbard is an upright, fair and intelligent man, and 
a useful and energetic citizen. In the Assembly he serves 
his constituents diligently and faithfully. He is a member 
of the Committees on Banks, and Militia and Public 
Defense. 



SAMUEL D, HUMPHREY, 



Doctor Samuel D. Humphrey, Member of Assembly 
from the county of Putnam, is a fair exemplification of 
that persistence, endurance and ingenuity which have long 
been regarded as constituting the Yankee character. He 
was born in Hartland, Connecticut, April 4th, 1823. His 
parents died while he Avas young, so that at the age of 
twelve he was obliged to depend upon his own resources. 
He managed to secure an academic education at Wilbra- 
ham, Massachusetts. Chemistry had for him strong 
fascinations. In 1 850 he established the Scientific Journal, 
which continues to bear his name, in the city of New 
York, and conducted it for nine years. At that time he 
made his residence at Morrisania in Westchester county. 
Resolving to adopt the j^rofession of medicine, he attended 
the sessions of the New York Medical College in the win- 
ter of 1857-8. He had already made himself familiar Avith 
the practice ; attended three terms, and finally graduated 
at the Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1863. He 
removed shortly afterward to Patterson, Putnam county, 
his present residence, and entered upon a coui-se of suc- 
cessful i^ractice. As a medical practitioner he is eminently 
successful, quick, and very correct in judgment, kind and 
attentive to those who come under his charge ; accomplish- 
ing a vast amount of labor, often riding sixty and eighty 
miles a day in his practice. Though not an active poli- 
tician, the Democrats, having experienced repeated defeats, 
placed him in nomination for tlie Assembly. The result 
gratified their expectation. He was elected by a majority 
of 223 votes over Mr. Mabie, the Republican candidate. 



254 LIFE SKETCHES. 

He is Chairman of the Committee on Public Health, and 
Medical Colleges and Medical Societies ; but he has made 
his mark principally by his zealous efforts in protecting 
the interests of the farmers along the line of the New York 
and Harlem Railroad, and to procure legislation for the 
reduction of the price for conveying milk on that road. 
Though dealing with a strong antagonist, he has shown 
liimself an adversary of no mean ability, and a man to be 
dreaded by all monopolizing corporations, no matter of 
what magnitude they may be. 



JAMES IRVING. 



Mr. Irvixg Avas born in tlie city of New York, on the 
6th day of July, 182]. His father was a Protestant Irish- 
man, and emigrated from Londonderry in 1808. His 
mother was a native of the United States. He was a bold 
lad, fond of adventure, but never neglectful of business. 
During his boyhood he attended several private schools, 
and was also a pupil in the public and higher schools for 
several seasons. He then went into the employment of 
the noted "Chris. Guiee," in Washington Market, and 
remained witli him ten years, sustaining a good reputation 
for industry and fidelity. He thus became familiar with 
the business in every department, and in 1847 engaged 
a market stand and began on his own account. His 
shrewdness in making purchases was unrivaled. He 
speedily became a leading man among the butchers of 
New York, buying and selling, on the average, one hun- 



JAMES IRVING. 255 

dred head of cattle a week. He seldom, varied five 
pounds from a correct estimate of the weight of an ani- 
mal. His energy, good judgment and industry soon 
rendered him prosperous, and in ten years he had accu- 
mulated the handsome fortune of 1400,000. He held 
large contracts for supplying the penitential and reforma- 
tory institutions on Ward's and Blackwell's Islands, and 
also for the army and navy. But the financial difticulties 
of 1857 seriously aftected him, and half of his projicrty 
was swallowed up by the disasters of that year. He con- 
timied in business, with varied success, till 1863, a period 
of sixteen years. 

In 1847, Mr. Irving was married to Miss Hannah 
Leonard, a sister of James Leonard, the well-known 
Insjiector of the Metropolitan Police. Mrs. Leonard, 
their mother, was a member of the Roman Catholic 
Church, a woman of superior mind, and of strictly con- 
scientious principles, and carefully instructed her children 
in religious duties. Mrs. Irving admirably displays the 
effect of her early culture, in her careful supervision of 
the conduct and education of her own children, six in 
number. In these matters she has the full concurrence of 
her husband, who professes no religious faith himself, but 
is liberal to all who do. 

Mr. Irving has taken an active part in politics for many 
years, belonging to the Tammany wing of the Democratic 
party. He was repeatedly in the field as a candidate 
without the regular nomination, and was always obliged 
to encounter a powerful combination of the factions 
opposed to him. It was always his boast, however, that 
he received a higher vote than the rival Democratic can- 
didate. In 1865, he was a candidate for Alderman in the 
Fourteenth District, embracing the Eighteenth Ward, and 
received twice as great a number of votes as the regular 



256 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Democratic candidate, although defeated by Mr. Joseph 
B. Vaenum, Republican, by a small majority. The next 
year he was an independent candidate for the Assembly, 
against Michael N. Salmon, Democratic Unionist, and 
Henry Beexy, Republican, and was elected by a plurality 
of sixteen. In 1867, he was a candidate against Henry 
Rawley, Republican, William Beard and Michael S. 
Lambert, Democrats, and received a plurality of 279. He 
is one of the most faithful members of the Assembly, attend- 
ing carefully to the business under consideration. He has 
also distinguished himself by a vigorous endeavor to 
procure the enactment of a bill regulating the sale of hay, 
to protect purchasers from imposition. The measure was 
defeated last winter, and he has renewed the struggle with 
better prospects of success. But, as a general rule, he 
remains quietly in his place, saying nothing, but always 
watching every measure that is proposed. He is a member 
of the Committees on Railroads, and Public Education. 



JOHN C. JACOBS. 



I 



Mr. Jacobs is the acknowledged leader of the majority 
in the House. No member of that body has had so long 
and so varied an experience in parliamentary rules and 
usages and Legislative tactics as he. For many years he 
has been a constant attendant upon both branches of the 
Legislature in the capacity of special coi-respondent for 
some leading newspaj^er. This is also his second term as 
a member of the House. Added to this long and vai'ied 
experience, is his effectiveness as a party manager and 
his readiness and ability in debate ; bis tireless activity 
and his dauntless courage in battling for his political prin- 
ciples. In short, there is that in his constitution and in 
his training which admirably fits him for the position of 
leadership which has been readily accorded him by his 
political brethren in the House. He was a prominent 
candidate for the Speakership, and would have filled that 
position well, but the Tammany men of New York city 
were opposed to him, and as they succeeded in securing a 
a majority of the country members he was defeated. 

Mr. Jacobs was boi*n December 16, 1838, in Lancaster 
county. Pa. The paternal ancestors of Mr. Jacobs, were 
of the old New England revolutionary stock, and several 
of them participated in the struggle for independence ; 
the maternal side were of German origin, one of them 
having held a high position under Frederick the Great, 
of Prussia. 

When Mr. Jacobs was quite young, his parents removed 
to the city of Brooklyn, where, with the excejDtion of a 
year, he has since resided. At an early age, he went to a 
33 



258 LIFE SKETCHES. 

select school, and was progressing rapidly, when his 
family removed to Philadelphia, Avhich broke in upon his 
educational progress ; and from his twelfth year, it may 
be said that his school house studies ended. Return- 
ing to Brooklyn he entered a lawyer's office, but growing 
dissatisfied with the day labor thei-e laid out for him, 
sought and obtained a place in the large printing estab- 
lishment of Jous A. Gray & Co., in New York. Here, 
as copy-holder, he became acquainted with many news- 
paper men of prominence — their journals being issued 
from the establishment — and soon cultivated a taste for 
the profession of a journalist. When eighteen years of 
age, he commenced newspaper life as a Reporter on the 
New York Express, and rapidly advanced, until he had 
charge of the political news columns. In 1860, he became 
the correspondent of the same paper, in Albany, remaining 
with it until 1865, when in the same capacity, he repre- 
sented the New York World. In 1862, Mr. Jacobs 
volunteered to acompany McClellan's army on its 
famous Peninsular campaign, as a correspondent, and, 
becoming attached to the 1st New York Volunteers, then 
in Kearney's Division, he had a chance to see, and par- 
ticipate in, some of the hardest fighting of the war. His 
account of the evacuation of Harrison's Landing, and the 
march to Yorktown, published in the Express, was exten- 
sively copied by the press, throughout the country. 

Mr. Jacobs began his jiolitical life early. In the cam- 
paign of 1856, though but a boy, he was active in the 
opposition to Fremoxt's election, and in 1860, was well 
known in Brooklyn as a leader among the young men who 
combined against the Lincoln ticket. In 1863, he was 
nominated by the Democrats for Assembly, John C. Perry 
being the Republican candidate, Theophilus C. Callicot 
and an independent Democrat, also running. This split 



JOHN C. JACOBS, 259 

defeated him. In 1865, he also ran, behig again defeated 
by William W. Goodrich, after a contest of great 
severity. Mr. Jacobs' friends insisted that he shonhl 
again run in 1866, and the Democratic convention nomi- 
nated him by acchamation. The llepublicans made every 
eifort to defeat him, but this time he won by a majority 
of nearly nine hundred. In the last Assembly he was an 
active member, but devoted most of his time to local 
matters. He served on the Committees on Public Printing 
and Colleges, Academies and Schools. He was re-elected 
to the present House by a largely increased majority, 
and is a member of the Committee of Ways and Means, 
and Chairman of tlie Committee on Expenditures of the 
Executive Department. 

Personally, Mr. Jacobs is a great favorite with all his 
acquaintances. Though an ardent and active partisan, 
pushing all party measures with vigor, there is yet a 
courteousness of manner, a fairness of dealing and a frank- 
ness of language in all his political endeavors, that does 
not fail to make even his opponents yield him a large 
share of admiration and respect. He is a man of large 
heart and warm sympathies, true to his friends and 
o-enerous to his foes. 



CHRISTOPHER JOHNSON. 



Mr. JoHNsox, tlie representative of the Fifth Assembly 
District of New York city, was born in the First Ward of 
that city, on the 11th of February, 1836. His parents 
immigrated to this country from Irehand. They Avere of 
humble origin but poor, rendering it incumbent upon the 
son to begin early to earn the ordinary necessaries of life. 
But notwithstanding the limited opportunities for educa- 
tion, and the other disadvantages incident to his con- 
dition, his good judgment and native energy have united 
in securing for him a good measure of success in life. 

At the early age of eight years he was apprenticed to a 
New Jersey farmer, with the time-honored privilege of 
going to school in winter, which was the only educational 
advantage, so far as schools are concerned, that he ever 
enjoyed. In 1847, he Avent to Goshen, Orange county, 
and remained there imtil Novembei', 1849, immediately 
after the ravages of the epidemic of that year, when, 
tired of country life and desirous of seeing the city once 
more, he returned to New York. He did not remain 
there long, however, as the prostration of business which 
followed the epidemic compelled him to adojDt the roving 
life of a seaman in the merchant service, and gave him 
the opportunity of seeing considerable of the world. In 
1853 he shipped in the United States navy, and during 
the Crimean Avar was attached to the frigate Savannah. 
He was on the South American station during the excite- 
ment concerning the steamer America, in the harbor of 
Rio Janeiro. He returned to NeAv York in November, 
1856. 



CHEISTOPHER JOHNSON. 2G1 

Mr, Johnson joined the Volunteer Fire Department of 
the city of Xew York in December, 1858, connecting 
himself with Engine Company No. 11. He had the honor 
of filling all the offices in tlie gift of the company, having 
been chosen Treasurer, Secretary, Assistant-Foreman and 
Foreman. He was unsuccessful in being re-elected to the 
latter office in 1862, his opponent being one of the recently 
chosen coroners of the city. In 1864, however, he beat 
the same oj^jionent by a handsome majority, and was 
again re-elected in 1865. He served in that capacity 
until the Metropolitan Department was put into active 
operation in September of that year. His services in the 
Fire Department were valuable and efficient. He was 
clerk in the Board of Aldermen for the year 1865, and 
Assistant Clerk in the Street Department in 1867. He is 
a member of the Tammany Hall General Committee, and 
was the Tammany nominee for the Assembly, having 
three Democratic competitors and one Republican, and 
being elected by a plurality of 1,296 votes. He is a mem- 
ber of the Committee on Cities. 



WILLIAM C, JONES. 



Mr. JoxES represents the Fifth District of Kings county, 
a district which in 186G gave a Republican majority of 
800, and in 1867 reversed it by giving ]\[r. Jones a 
majority of 500, a result attributal^le more perhaps to his 
personal popularity than sympathy with his political prin- 
ciples. He Avas born in New York city, October 19, 1822, 
His father was a native of Pennsylvania, and served in 
the war of 1812. His mother was a native of New York : 
both Avere of English ancestry. He received a good edu- 
cation, passed several years as clerk in a store, and then 
engaged in the granite business. Mr. Jones has been, 
for many years past, connected with the Brooklyn Navy 
Yard, and discharged his duties very efficiently, always 
having the confidence of the commanding officers. He 
is now a lessee of Government docks in Brooklyn. He 
w^as a member of the Assembly in 1860, serving on the 
Committee on Cities, and holds the same position now. 
During the rebellion, he was in the South Atlantic 
Blockading Squadron, serving on the staff of Fleet 
Eno-ineer Robert Danby, whose fleet consisted of one 
hundred vessels. Mr. Jones is what is properly termed a 
Avorking member of the House. He is very attentive to 
the duties of the committee room, the place where legisla- 
tion is really shaped. He is an intelligent and valuable 
member of the Committee on Avhich he serves. He is 
pleasing in his personal manners, and makes many friends. 
His opinions are listened to Avith respect, and his counsels 
sought. He is of the class of men who practically impress 
much of their individuality on legislation. 



FREDERICK JULIAND. 



Mr. JuMAXD was born in Greene, Chenango county, 
New York (his present residence), October 9tli, 1806, 
being the youngest son of Captain Joseph Juliaxd, a 
native of Lyons, France, who immigrated to this country 
during the stormy times of the French Revolution, and 
settled in Greene, in 1798 (a town purchased by the State 
from the Oneida and Tuscarora Indians, in 1785, and 
named in honor of General Xathaniel Greene). His 
was one of eight or ten French fiimilies who Avere the 
first white settlers of that vicinity. Among the incidents 
of their pioneer life they boast of a visit from the cele- 
brated French Statesman Talleykand. 

Tlie boyhood days of Frederick Juliaxd were spent 
on his father's farm, he being the recipient of such privi- 
leges as the common schools of that day afforded. In his 
more advanced youth he received academic advantages at 
Oxford, in his own county, and at Utica. 

Having served an apprenticeship as merchant's clerk, he 
embarked in the mercantile business, in his native town, 
which he successfully prosecuted for upward of twenty- 
five years, retiring from active pursuits, with a handsome 
competency, in 18G0. 

From his youth upward he has taken an interest in the 
political issues before the country. He was a staunch 
Whig in the days of that party, and at its dissolution 
became an equally ai'dent ReiDublican, his opinions and 
advice having great weight in the locality where he was 
best known. He has twice been a member of the Union 
State Central Committee, and has held several offices of 



264 LIFE SKETCHES. 

trust, in all of which he has served faithfully, and Avon a 
reputation for purity of purpose, dignity of charactei", 
ability and enterprise. He was Postmaster under Har- 
rison and Tyler ; is one of the incorporators for locating 
the Soldiers' Home, and is one of the Trustees of the 
Inebriate Asylum, at Binghamton. He was a member of 
Assembly in 1856, serving upon the Committee on Banks, 
and was State Senator from the Twenty-third District, 
comprising the counties of Chenango, Madison and Cort- 
land, in 1864 and '65, being chosen by a majority of 
5,459. During this service, he was Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Public Printing, and a member of the Committees 
on Banks, Roads and Bridges, and Poor Laws. He earned 
considerable distinction as Senator, acquiring a name for 
exercising careful and comprehensive judgment, upon all 
matters of legislation, and for steadfastly advocating 
economy in conducting the affairs of the State. Standing 
in the foremost ranks of those whose honesty and firmness 
could be relied upon, his career as a Senator was without 
a blemish. Among the important questions settled by 
the Legislature Avhile he was in the Senate, was that of the 
Chenango Canal extension. This measure was, through 
the immediate supervision and active exertions of Senator 
JuLIA^TD, put into practical effect, and by virtue of the 
law passed, mainly by his influence, is now near its com- 
pletion. The speech made by Mr. Juliand, in its behalf 
before the Committee of the whole Senate, displayed 
careful research and wise judgment. 

Mr. JuLiAND was an effective supporter of the late war, 
contributing liberally from his time and means to sustain 
the Union. He was one of the Committee appointed by 
the Governor to raise recruits, and performed A^aluable 
service in that behalf His liberality toward the families 



FREDERICK JULIAXD. 265 

of absent soldiers, has made his name familiarly welcome 
at many a lonely fireside. 

In the summer of 1864, the town of Greene had occa- 
sion to forward funds to an agent at Newbern, North 
Carolina, Avho was there endeavoring to enlist men to fill 
their quota. Much against his will Mr. Juliaxd was 
induced to undertake the task. He started via Wash- 
ington and Xorfolk, taking the steamer Fawn at the latter 
place for Roanoke Island, via the Dismal Swamp Canal. 
When about 150 miles from Norfolk, the steamer was 
attacked by Guerrillas. Upward of a hundred shots were 
fired at the steamer, killing and wounding nine of the 
little party of only thirty. Mr. Juliand and the remain- 
ing survivors were taken prisoners and robbed of all their 
baggage; the steamer was burned, and they were com- 
pelled to march, the whole night, thirty miles, to Elizabeth 
City, where, after being robbed of $6,000 (a portion of the 
funds he was transporting), he and Major Jenny of 
Syracuse, were paroled, through the interference of a 
friend, the remainder of the party being marched oif to a 
vile Southern prison, where it has since been ascertained 
more than half of them died horrible deaths. Mr. 
JuLiAND and his companions made their escape from rebel 
domain in a sail boat, after being without food or shelter 
for about two entii-e days. 

His election to the Assembly of 1867 was a flattering 
expression of the esteem and regard in which he is held 
at home. The county by the late apportionment was 
reduced to one member, and there was considerable strife 
among prominent gentlemen for the position. Mr. 
Juliand's name was not mentioned in that connection 
until the Convention which placed him in nomination had 
organized, and even then against his express desire. He 
received a unanimous nomination, and at the polls received 
a4 



266 LIFE SKETCHES. 

1,608 majority, the highest vote given to any candidate 
upon the ticket. He was nominated and re-elected last 
fall to the present Assembly. His experience makes him 
a valuable member. 



PATRICK KEADY. 



Mr. Keady, the Member of Assembly from the Third 
District of Kings county, was born at Mount Equity, 
county of Roscommon, Ireland, on the 26th day of June, 
1832. His parents soon after moved to Correen, an unpre- 
tending village about four miles distant from the town of 
Ballinasloe, where his father leased a small farm, which 
he worked for a few years, and then died. Patrick had, 
at that time, just begun to go to school; but, being the 
oldest son, he was forced to stay at home and work 
the farm for the support of himself and his brothers 
and sisters. Finding farming unprofitable in his native 
country, he came to America, in 1851, in order to better 
his condition. Arriving here on the 17th day of March 
in that year, he lost no time in seeking employment, and 
was soon afterward bound as an apprentice to a promi- 
nent master painter, Josiaii T. Smith, of Brooklyn. Mr. 
Keady could then scarcely write his own name in a 
legible manner, but, by his devotion to study in his 
leisure hours, he soon began to improve in the art of 
reading and writing. He rapidly acquired a knowledge 
of the country and was passionately fond of newspaper 
reading. Indeed, the price of newspapers, and his cloth- 



PATRICK READY. 267 

ing and board bills, were, for a time, his only expense. 
By the advice of his employer, he practiced exact econ- 
omy, and Benjamin Franklin himself could not have 
been more scrupulous in this respect than he was for a 
time. In a few years he Avas able to aid his mother, two 
brothers and one sister, who were yet in Ireland, but Avho 
also came to this country shortly before Mr. Keady's time 
for service had expired. Having served his apprenticeship 
according to agreement, he was paid full journeyman's 
wages by his employer, a compliment which falls to the 
lot of few apprentices, even in this country. Mr. Keady 
continued to work at his trade in New York city, where 
he pursued it for upwards of fifteen years ; he then found 
his health greatly impaired by his exhausting labors by 
day, and his studies by night. He at length concluded 
to find some other employment, and, having a taste for 
journalism, he at once commenced the study of short- 
hand writing. Having studied phonography for over a 
year, during which time he still worked at his trade, he 
sought and obtained a position as reporter on one of the 
New York daily j^apers. He has always been a Demo- 
crat in politics. In 1866 he was nominated for the Assem- 
bly, and was opposed during the campaign by the regular 
Republican candidate, and by a prominent Democrat 
also ; but he defeated both by a plurality of over fifteen 
hundred votes. In 1867 he was re-elected by a majority 
which outnumbered both his opponents. The Republicans 
withdrew their candidate against him and, although he 
would not accept any formal endorsement at their hands, 
they voted for him almost to a man, thus leaving his two 
Democratic opponents to mourn their folly the day after 
election. 

Mr. Keady is still connected with the press, and will 
probably remain so for the remainder of his life. What- 



268 LIFE SKETCHES. 

ever Mr. Keady knows — and lie is a gentleman of no little 
intelligence — is the result of close study under unfavor- 
able circumstances. He still devotes his leisure hours to 
study, is temperate in his habits, and is refined in his 
deportment. He is an industrious member, a good debater, 
and takes an active part in all the proceedings of the 
House. 



LAWRENCE D. KIERNAN. 



Mr. KiERisTAN was born February 12, 1844, about a mile 
from a small village known as EdgCAVorthstown, in the 
county Longford, Ireland. His parents were in moderate 
circumstances, his father being a farmer of limited means. 
After the death of both his parents, and about twelve 
years since, he immigrated to this country, and has since 
resided in New York city. 

After attending the public school for a year, Mr. Kiek- 
NAN was admitted to the Free Academy, Here he distin- 
guished himself by his application to and proficiency in 
his studies, and, on graduating with the highest honors in 
1861, he received the first prize for public speaking. He 
at once entered on the study of the law, and in about 
six months was appointed a teacher in Grammar School 
eighteen, in which capacity he served with marked success 
and acceptability until his election to the Legislature. He 
continued the study of the law while employed as teacher, 
graduating from the Law Department of the New York 
University in 1865. During the Rebellion he was desig- 
nated Private Secretary to the Irish Brigade, then com- 



LAWEENCE D. KIERNAN. 269 

mandecl by General Thomas Francis Meagher, but never 
entered on the discharge of the duties of the office, owing 
to family embarrassments. He received the degree of 
Master of Arts from the New York College in 1864, and 
is now a member of the Alumni Committee on the rela- 
tions of Alma Mater with kindred institutions. He was 
elected to the Assembly by a vote of 2,498 against 1,132 
for Mr. Fay (Dem.), 431 for Mr. McDonough (Dem.), and 
1,435 for Mr. Urmy (Rep.). 

The record of Mr. Kiernan's life, it will be thus seen, 
is but the recounting of a preparation for active life. He 
stands on the threshold of a career which bids fair to be 
bright and prosperous. His first inti'oduction to political 
life in Albany was in the presentation of the name of 
William Hitchman, as candidate for Speaker to the 
Democratic caucus. It w^as a brilliant effort, and contri- 
buted largely to the success of his nominee. Mr. Kier- 
nan's voice is clear, round and penetrating, and his 
enunciation accurate. He has a discriminating, logical, 
judicial mind, which will enable him to succeed as a 
counsellor, while his powers of oratory will make him a 
successful pleader. He finds an appropriate place in the 
Judiciary Committee room. In his modest anxiety to 
avoid that which has ruined many j^i'omising young men, 
too much speaking, Mr. Kierxax seems to have commited 
the opposite error, for he rarely takes the floor. It is to 
be hoped that he will change his course somewhat in this 
regard, so as to give his powers their necessary develop- 
ment and discipline. If he maintains the well-balanced 
intellect he now possesses, and observes as closely and 
acts as intelligently through life, Mr. Kiernan's career 
will be a proud one in the annals of our nation's history. 



OLIVER H. P. KINNEY. 



O. H. Perry Kixney was born in Sheshequin, Bradford 
county, Pennsylvania, on the 15th of December, 1819, and 
is consequently forty-eight years old. He traces his 
ancestry back to Vermont, thence to Scotland. His 
gi-andfather, Joseph Kixney, was a soldier of the Revo- 
lution, and settled in the beautiful valley of Sheshequin, 
on the Susquehanna river, soon after the Wyoming mas- 
sacre. His fiather, George Kinney, was there born in 
1790, and there reared to maturity a flimily of nine chil- 
dren, of Avhom Perry was the sixth. The common dis- 
trict school became the fixed boundaries of the educational 
aspirations of the family. The eldest, Julia. H., (after- 
wards Mrs. Scott), became a poet of considerable celeb- 
rity, and contributed largely to the religious and literary 
periodicals of her day ; among the latter being The New 
Yorker, then published by Horace Greeley. Since her 
death her writings have been collected and published. 

Perry (as he was always familiarly called), upon 
arriving at the age of twenty-one, broke through the 
barriers by which the family had long been hedged about, 
and by his own efforts succeeded in spending two quar- 
ters at an Academy in Towanda, the county seat, which 
little advantage he followed up by reading law with Hon. 
David Wilmot, of "Wilmot Proviso" notoriety. He 
was admitted to the bar of Bradford county in 1844. 
He Avas candidate for District Attorney on the Whig 
ticket in 1847, and was defeated by but eighty-six votes 
in a canvass which showed a majority of five hundred 
against his party. He moved to Towanda in 1 848, and 



OLIVER H. P. KINXEY. 271 

entered into copartnership Avitli E, W. Baied in the prac- 
tice of law ; but the next year he opened an office on his 
own account, and continued practice until the breaking 
out of the California gold excitement, when he sailed for 
the Golden State in September, 1851. He returned in 
July, 1853, with health so utterly broken as to forbid any 
serious labor, mental or physical, for several years. 

In 1858 he was elected to the Lower House of the Penn- 
sylvania Legislature by over 5,000 majority — a larger rela- 
tive vote than any candidate ever received for any office in 
that county. In 1859 he was re-elected. During his first 
term he Avas on the Educational Committee, and his ardent 
labors in behalf of free common school education gave 
him the chairmanship of that important committee the 
next year. The second winter of his service he was made 
Chairman of a Select Committee to whom Avas referred 
innumerable petitions asking for a law to prevent blacks 
from coming into the State, or, in lieu thereof, a law to 
enslave them. Upon this, Mr. K. made an elaborate report 
setting forth the true relationship between man and man 
under our system of government, and evolving and defin- 
ing those natural rights which pertain to all men, regard- 
less of nationality. His report, though regarded as radi- 
cal, and in advance of the day in Avhich it was made, 
embodied the principles which have since obtained in the 
nation. He was appointed on the committees of two im- 
portant cases of contested election, in one of which he was 
selected to write out the report. That report has become 
valuable as a precedent of important legal points settled. 

In the fall of 1860, Mr, Kixney purchased an interest in 
and became editor of the Waverly Advocate, published at 
Waverly, Tioga county. New York ; and on the first of 
January following settled in that enterprising village. 
The Advocate, up to that time, had been a vacillating, 



272 MFE SKETCHES. 

unreliable, unimportant political paper ; but he at once 
made it such an unswerving and undisguised exponent 
of Republicanism that its force and character were soon 
felt throughout the country. As an editor Mr. K. ranks 
as a clear, concise and forcible writer, making those prin- 
ciples which he conceives to be right the leading element 
of all his efforts, leaving policy as a matter of secondary 
and subordinate consideration. Earnestness and honesty 
of piirpose have thus far characterized his editorial career ; 
and as a wise and judicious manager of a political paper 
he stands deservedly high. For six years he was 
Assistant-Postmaster at Waverly, and had almost the 
entire control and responsibility of that office. That, 
together with the care of his paper, seriously impaired his 
health, and made a change desirable. He was elected in 
April, 1867, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention 
from the Twenty-fourth Senate district. In this conven- 
tion he took no very active part, choosing to act in the 
capacity of a juror, and aim to give an honest and intelli- 
gent vote after hearing the facts, rather than venture into 
the deep water of constitutional debate. But his sugges- 
tions in committee and in convention were regarded as 
sound and eminently practical. He favored manhood suf- 
rao-e, and opposed selecting the negro out as a target for 
politicians by separate submission. He was an ardent sup- 
porter of Woman Suffrage, and his speech on that subject 
was republished in many papers of the State and highly 
complimented for the spirit of humanity, and for its strong 
logical appeal in behalf of the mothers, wives and 
daughters of the Empire State. While a member of the 
Convention he was elected a member of the Assembly 
from Tioga county. 



NICHOLAS B. LA BAU. 



Mr. La Bau's personelle is really one of the finest in 
the Assembly. A person is attracted by his finely cut 
features which are decidedly classical, as well as by his 
polished manners and faultless exterior. He displays that 
carefulness in dress, which marks the gentleman of 
refinement, without creating an impression of superlative 
fastidiousness ; and his rich voice, whether heard in debate 
or in conversation, is exceedingly pleasing. 

He is a native of Trenton, New Jersey, at which place, 
he was born, July 29th, 1823. His maternal grandfather 
was born on the Island of Scio, of Greek parents, and 
came to this country while young, settling in Philadelphia 
He became one of the wealthiest merchants in that city. 
His paternal ancestry were Huguenots ; they left France 
during the reign of Louis XIV, and settled in New Jei'sey. 

Mr. La Bau is a graduate of Columbia College, New 
York. After leaving college, he studied law, and Avas 
admitted to practice at the Bar. He followed the legal 
profession until 1859, when, on account of ill health, he 
was compelled to relinquish his professional pursuits. In 
1860, he had a severe and dangerous illness which confined 
him to his bed for six months; and he did not entirely 
recover from this attack, until January, 1863. 

Up to the year 1859, he had identified himself with the 

first Division New York State Militia, and had served in 

almost every capacity — Aid to Brigadier-General, Brigade 

Judge Advocate, Captain New York City Guards; and 

when his health failed him, he was Lieutenant-Colonel 

of the 55th Begiment. 
35 



274 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Mr. La Bau was an ardent Union man, from the begin- 
ning of our national conflict, and, as soon as his health 
permitted, took an unmistakable position in favor of the 
Administration. He was, at that time, a resident of 
Richmond county, to which lie had removed from New 
York, for the purpose of fully regaining his health, 
liichmond county was hopelessly Democratic : and its 
financial aftairs Avere in the hands of a most corrupt 
ring. In 1863, the Board of Supervisors passed a resolu- 
tion to raise, upon the bonds of the county, a sum sufti- 
cient to pay every drafted man's exemption fee ; and they 
individually said : " Not a man shall go to the war from 
Richmond county." Such a flagrant determination to 
indirectly aid the active enemies at the South, was enough 
to make the blood boil in tlie veins of any true Union 
man ! Mr. La Bau took an earnest part in favor of the 
tax payers of the county, to break up the strongholds of 
corruption. He was the Union candidate for the Assem- 
bly, from Richmond county in 1863 ; but the Democratic 
tide was too strong against him, and his opponent was 
elected. Li the spring of 1864, he canvassed the county 
against the corrupt Board of Supervisors, and in favor of 
the reformatory movement which he had inaugurated. 
His attempt was successful ; for all of the Board, except 
one, Avere rejected ; and honest, independent men were 
elected in their stead. In the autumn of the same year, 
he again ran for Member of Assembly, but he was beaten 
by the opposing candidate, nevertheless having run far 
ahead of his ticket. 

In 1865, Mr. La Bau's name was brought before the 
people of the First Disti'ict as candidate for State Senator. 
After his nomination, the Democratic Committee split on 
the nominations of Mi-. Christie and Mr. Havens, both 
factions claiming that their proceedings were regular. 



NICUOLAS B. LA BAU. 275 

Mr, La Bau made a thorough canvass of the counties of 
Richmond and Suffolk, speaking to audiences nearly every 
night. Four days before the election, a reconciliation was 
effected between the two Democratic factions, and Mr. 
Havexs withdrew in favor of Mr. Christie. Mr. La Bait's 
chances for success were considered hopeless, as the district 
was Democratic by at least 1,800 majority. In fact, Geo. 
William Curtis had, in 1862, been defeated in running 
for Congress, by a majority of 1,308 ; and Mr. Christie, 
in 1863, had been elected to the Senate by 1,612, in his 
favor. Mr. La Bau's friends, however, worked tenaciously, 
resolved not to give up the contest until the last moment. 
The result was his election by about seventy majority — 
a most satisfactory triumph, as it demonstrated his popu- 
larity among his constituents. 

In the Senate of 1866-7, he Avas a member of the Com- 
mittees on Judiciary, Engrossed Bills, and Roads and 
Bridges. He was a leading and influential Senator, and 
secured the passage of a number of important measures 
during the session. 

Mr. La Bau, having, during his Senatorial term, removed 
to Warren county, he yielded to the demands which the 
citizens of that county made upon his experience and 
superior qualifications, and accepted the nomination for 
the Assembly. He is a member of the Judiciary Com- 
mittee. 

As a debater, Mr. La Bau is ready and perspicuous. 
His style of oratory is often florid, though not excessively 
so, and his points of advantage and defense are usually 
well selected. Ornate in rhetoric, and sagacious in argu- 
ment, he is an opponent of gentlemanly bearing, and a 
colleague of fine culture 



JAMES D. LASHER. 



One of the most attentive men to his duties in the 
House is James D. Lasher, who represents the Second 
District of Oswego county. He is of German descent, 
and was born in 1814 in the town of Manlius, Onondaga 
county, New York. He was educated mostly in the com- 
mon schools of his native place. He spent several years 
of his early life in New York city, and subsequently, some 
time in the South. 

For many years he was a merchant tailor in the village 
of Fulton, but his health demanding the change, he 
retired upon a farm. He was also, at one time, quite 
extensively engaged in the lumbering business. During 
the past few years he has resumed his old avocation, and 
is now extensively engaged in the clothing business in 
Fulton. 

Mr. Lasher very early took an active part in politics ; 
always, until a recent period, being attached to the prin- 
ciples and fortunes of the Democratic party. In his own 
locality he has always been prominent in party matters. 
During his early residence in Fulton he was often elected 
Town Clerk, and frequently to offices under the village 
organization. After his removal to his farm he was elected 
Supervisor of the town of Granby, in 1849; and was 
again elected in 1850, and 1858, and again in 1864. 

As a member of the " Local Legislature," Mr. Lasher 
always held a- prominent position. He was a faithful 
and influential officer, and, in 1853, presided over the 
deliberations of the Board. 

Mr. Lasher continued to act with the Democratic party 
until 1860. When the rebels fired upon Fort Sumter, 



THOMAS LAAVEENCE. 211 

and the secessionists phinged the country into a war, in 
the mad attempt to destroy the Union, he entered the ranks 
of the Republican party. Of the principles and measures 
of that party, he has since been a consistent and earnest 
supporter. During the war he was very active in the sup- 
port of the government, and was very efficient in raising 
companies and filling the various quotas of soldiers asked 
of his own locality. 

Mr. Lasher is a genial gentleman, of strong sound 
sense, and diligent and persevering in the support of any 
cause or measure which meets his approbation. As has 
been intimated above, he is attentive to his duties, and 
looks well to the interests of his constituents. He is a 
member of the Canal Committee. 



THOMAS LAWRENCE. 



Mr. Lawrexce was born in the city of New York, May 
16, 1819. He is a descendant of Thomas Lawrence, one 
of the three Lawrence brothers who originally settled on 
Long Island, in 1644. His grandfather, Thomas Law- 
rence, removed his family from New York city to 
Rockland county just previous to the Battle of Long 
Island, and they remained there until after peace was 
established, in 1786, when they removed to Mount 
Pleasant, Westchester county. He served in the Conti- 
nental army under Washington, and at the close of the 
war held a Lieutenant's commission, with a brevet of 
Captain. William Lawrence, the youngest son of 
Thomas Lawrence, and the father of the subject of this 
notice, was born in New York city, February 4, IV 76, and 
married, in 1795, Thamer Fisher, eldest daughter of 



278 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Gilbert Fisher, of Mount Pleasant. Mr. Fisher was 
known during the whole Revolutionary war as an active 
and zealous partisan Whig scout, serving under Major 
Jonathan Paulding. The Fisher family were among 
the earliest settlers of White Plains and vicinity. Wil- 
liam Lawrence removed to New York city immediately 
after his marriage, and started the first mill for grinding 
drugs in America, on the site of the jjresent Essex Market, 
in that city. In the War of 1812, he volunteered for the 
defense of the city, and served until the danger Avas 
passed and the troops wei'e disbanded. 

In 1822, when Thomas was but three years of age, his 
jDarents removed to Mount Pleasant, W^estchester county, 
and his early education Avas consequently obtained in the 
district schools of the neighborhood, dividing his time as 
most boys did at that period who resided in agricultural 
districts, between working on the farm in summer and 
going to school in winter, until about the year 1833, Avhen 
he entered the Mount Pleasant Academy at Sing Sing. 
He remained at this acad(^my about two years, and 
then entered the law office of Smith Barker, in New 
York city, as a student at law. Too young at this time 
to appreciate the dry study of the law, he only remained 
one year, when he returned to the country and diversified 
his employment by working on his father's farm, attend- 
ing school, teaching and surveying until 1842, when his 
health failing him, he removed to Adams county, Illinois, 
where he remained for over four years, following various 
pursuits and traveling over the greater part of the then 
inhabited West, even penetrating the Indian territory 
alone and on horseback. 

He returned home with health completely restored, and 
again sought the law office of his old patron. Smith Bar- 
ker, and, completing his studies, Avas admitted to the bar 



THOMAS LAWREXCE. 279 

in February, 1851. He then took \ip his residence in the 
city of New York, following the practice of his profes- 
sion, part of the time under his own name alone, and 
part of the time as one of the firm of Lockwood, Law- 
KEXCE tfc Crosby, until 1858, Avhen he removed to 
Nyack, Rockland county, his present place of residence. 
In 1859, he was elected District Attorney of that county, 
and served the term of three years, still, however, con- 
tinuing his private practice in the city of New York, 
which he still follows. 

His grandfathers, both on his father's and mother's side, 
were Jeffersonian Democrats. His father cast his first 
vote for Thomas Jeffersox, and never varied in his 
support of Democratic principles, and Mr. Lawrence 
himself has always, from his first vote to his last, sustained 
the same political principles. By some considered iiltra 
in his views, he cannot be accused of ever swerving. 
Taking his stand upon Avhat he deemed the fundamental 
principles of our government, he resolutely opposed every 
measure of President Lixcoln's administration for the 
subjection of the Southern States, and was one of the first, 
if not the first man, in this State who organized what Avas 
known as Peace Meetings during the Avar. Denounced by 
many, even of his former political friends, threatened with 
imprisonment and lynch law, he never changed his princi- 
ples, nor ever faltered in their fearless advocacy. 

Mr, Lawrence was elected to the Assembly by 615 
majority. He is a member of the Committee on Banks. 



DAVID D. LEFLER. 



The little county of Seneca elects one member of 
Assembly. It is situated between two of the beautiful 
inland lakes of western New York, from one of which it 
takes its name — and since the days of Andrew Jack- 
son's first candidacy has been one of the Democratic 
counties of the State, which seldom falters — having been 
one of seven counties, which stood firm in the Dem- 
ocratic column in the memorable canvass of 1861. It is 
frequently called the "fast anchored isle of Democracy," — 
in view of its isolated position as the only Democratic 
county in the Seventh Judicial District, and surrounded, 
as it is, on all sides by strong opposition majorities. 

The fertility of its soil attracted the attention of soldiers 
of the army of General Sullivan in their march across it, 
in the celebrated Indian Campaign, near the close of the 
Revolutionary struggle, and soon after the restoration of 
peace, many of these veteran warriors returned and 
located lands in Seneca county. The three military town- 
ships of Ovid, Romulus and Junius, comprising the 
greater portion of the present county, were set apart 
as bounty lands for soldiers of the Revolutionary War — 
many of whom became actual settlers. To this element 
were added many settlers from Long Island, New Jersey 
and Pennsylvania ; two of the towns having been settled 
principally with Pennsylvania Germans. 

David D. Lefler, deriving his descent from such 
patriotic stock, was born in the town of Covert, Seneca 
county, where he now resides, on the 5th day of 
September, 1825. Both his paternal and maternal grand- 



DAVID D. LEFLER. 281 

fathers served in the War of the Revohition, — and both 
lived to the age of about one hundred years. 

Mr. Lefler's father is a native of Pennsylvania, and still 
living at the advanced age of ninety-two yeai-s ; his mother, 
now in her eighty-ninth year, is a native of New Jersey. 
His father, a mechanic in humble circumstances, was unable 
to extend to his son David the advantages of a liberal edu- 
cation. Leaving home at the early age of thirteen years, 
M'ith but a few shillings in his pocket, young Lefler 
entered upon the battle of life for himself Avitli indomita- 
ble energy, and a determination to succeed. For a time he 
engaged himself to a firmer to chop cord wood and split 
rails, and afterwards for several years worked on a farm in 
summer and attended school in winter, working nights and 
mornings lor his board. His education was finished at a 
select school at Farmer Village, then under the charge of 
Rev. Phineas C. Headley, who has since acquired con- 
siderable reputation as an author and a divine. After 
teaching school several terms, he selected the avocation of 
a farmer, (having married at the age of twenty-three years) 
at first Avorking lands upon shares. By strict industry 
and application to business he soon became the owner of 
a fine larm, and gradually enlarged his business by adding 
to it the purchase of live stock, tarm produce and wool, to 
which latter branch of this business he now devotes the 
greater portion of his time. 

As a public spirited citizen he has always been ready to 
unite in all local enterprises calculated to advance the 
interest of the community in Avhich he resides. Pie was 
the first President of the Trumansburgh and Seneca Falls 
Telegraph Company, and has always been a prominent 
member of the County Agricultural Society. 

In politics, Mr. L. was an early admirer of Hexry Clay 
and Daniel Webster, and of the doctrines advocated by 
36 



282 LIFE SKETCHES. 

them, and on arriving at his majority united his political 
fortunes with the Whig party, then in the minority in 
Seneca county, casting his first Presidential vote for Tay- 
lor and Fillmore, in 1848. A conservative in his politi- 
cal views, on the organization of the Republican party, he 
identified himself with the conservative branch of that 
party. In 1858 he received the Republican nomination 
for Sheriff of Seneca county, and made a handsome run, 
although defeated by the Democratic candidate. 

During the late war he was a member of the Senatorial 
War Committee, by appointment of Governor Morgaist, 
and was Chairman of the Town War Committee, in which 
capacities he rendered very active and efficient services in 
promoting enlistments and in raising money to carry on 
the same — giving liberally of his own means. At the close 
of the war he took issue with the majority of his party on 
its reconstruction policy and the question of the civil and 
political status of the Southern States. In the fall of 
1866, he entered heartily into the canvass, and warmly 
supported the Hon. John T. Hoffman and his colleagues 
on the Democratic State ticket. At that election, owing 
greatly to his efforts and influence, his town, which for 
many years had been strongly Republican, gave Judge 
Hoffman 36 majority, and at the election of 1867, this 
majority was increased to 66. 

At the Democratic nominating Convention of Seneca 
county, in October, 1867, Mr, L. was nominated for Mem- 
ber of Assembly, receiving the votes of more than two- 
thirds of the Delegates on the first ballot, and after a 
somewhat exciting canvass, was elected by a majority of 
575 ; the largest majority ever given in that county for a 
Democratic nominee for member. 

After the organization of the Legislature, Mr. L. was 
assigned by the Speaker to the Chairmanship of the Com- 



JOIIX F. LITTLE. 283 

mittee on Public Lands, and is also a member of the 
important committees on Railroads and Sub-committee of 
the Whole. As a legislator, he is prompt, industrious and 
watchful of the interests of his constituency, and is 
deservedly popular and influential with his fellow members. 
As a son, husband and father, he is kind and devoted ; 
as a politician and man of business, frank, decided and 
outspoken ; as a neighbor and citizen, genial and warm- 
hearted — and the poor, the orphan and the fiitherless, 
know no better friend than David D. Lefler. 



JOHN F. LITTLE. 



Mr. Little was born July 13th, 1839, in the town of 
Reading, Steuben county (now Schuyler). His parents 
were farmers, and, like all boys brought up in agricul- 
tural sections, he was employed in the labor of the 
farm. Manifesting at an early age a desire for study, 
and more information than was to be obtained in the 
common schools of the country, he Avas permitted to 
attend the high schools and academies of that section of 
the State, when the labors of the farm did not require his 
time at home, and was thus alternately employed on the 
farm of his pai-ents and attending school until he arrived 
at the age of eighteen. He then abandoned agricultural 
labor, and for ten years was engaged as a teacher in 
the schools of his native county, in Avhich capacity he 
succeeded well, and gained some reputation as an educator 
in the public schools. He then gave up teaching as a 
business, and entered upon the study of the law, pursuing 
it studiously until the breaking out of the rebellion in 1861 , 



284 LIFE SKETCHES. 

when he at once became enlisted in the success of the 
North. During the first year of the war, a great portion 
of his time was spent in obtaining vohmteers for our army 
by acting as a recruiting officer, and in making Avar 
speeches thi'oughout his county. Tlie reverses to our arms 
and the necessity of at once filling up our depleted armies, 
in the summer of 1862, again called him forth from his 
studies, which he had in the spring of that year resumed, 
and again he took the field ; and after assisting by his 
time and money in raising the quota of his county, he 
entered the army as First Lieutenant in the 161st Regi- 
ment of New York Volunteers. His rescinient beinEf 
assigned to the "Banks Expedition," was sent with that 
command to the "Department of the Gulf," and took part 
in every battle and skirmish in that Department, com- 
mencing with the siege of Port Hudson and ending with 
the capture of Mobile, and in the meantime he was pro- 
moted to a Captaincy in his regiment. At the close of 
actual hostilities, his executive abilities having attracted 
the attention of his superior officers, he was selected from 
a large command, and, with a proper garrison, was sent to 
Marianna, a large town in the interior of Florida, to 
establish a military post and administer the law as a civil 
officer, being charged with the duties of an officer of the 
" Freedmen's Bureau," and of administering the oath of 
allegiance and amnesty. 

Order being restored to that section of the State, he was 
relieved of his command and ordered to report at Talla- 
hassee, the Headquarters of the Department of Florida, 
then under the command of Major-General John" G. 
Foster, by whom he was assigned to duty as Provost 
Marshal and acting Mayor of the city, the multifarious 
duties of which position he discharged to the entire satis- 
faction of his superior officers, until his health failed him, 



JOHN F. LITTLE. 285 

and for a time he was prostrated by disease superinduced 
by the exposure incident to active campaigns. On 
his partial recovery, his commanding officer, believing 
that a change of climate would bo of value in restoring 
him to liealth — he having been in the extreme South 
. continuously for over three years, never having had a 
day's leave of absence — ordered him to Washington in 
charge of the witnesses in the Wirz case from the Depart- 
ment of Florida. 

On his arrival at Washington he discharged his duties, 
and his short visit North having failed to restore his 
health, the Avar being at an end and his regiment having 
previously been mustered out of the service, he was, at 
his OAvn request, by the War Department, ordered to 
Elmira, N. Y., where, on the IVth day of October, 1865, 
he was honorablj^ mustered out and discharged. Return- 
ing to the home of his father, he was for several months 
prostrated by sickness from disease contracted during his 
service in the army. As soon as his health would permit, 
he again resumed the study of law, and was, on the 6th 
day of December, 1866, admitted to the Bar, and at once 
commenced the practice of law in the village of Bath. 

From a boy, Mr. Little has taken an active interest in 
the politics of the cqimtry, and at a very early age became 
active in the local politics of his county, always acting 
with the Democratic party. In the fall of 1867 he was 
placed in nomination by the Democratic party for the 
office of member of Assembly in the First Assembly 
District of Steuben county. The District was largely 
Republican, having the previous year given the Republi- 
can nominee a majority of about 600 ; but by his efforts 
and those of his personal and jjolitical friends, he over- 
came the majority against him and was elected by a 
majority of nearly 500. He is a member of the important 



286 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Committees on Judiciary, Can.al Fraud Impeachment, and 
Salt. 

Mr. Little is tall, slim, and attractive in person. 
There is considerable native humor lurking in his com- 
position, and he is genial and pleasant in his disposi- 
tion. He ranks as one of the foremost young men in the 
Assembly. His perceptions are clear, and his manner of 
of presenting his thoughts forcible. He is an able debater 
and cogent reasoner. There is no hesitancy, no mere 
reading in his oratory. His utterance is distinct and his 
voice pleasant. He is thoughtful and observing. His 
attachments are warm and his friends numerous, and they 
rejoice at the evidences of his prosperity. 



JAMES LOUGHRAN. 



Mr. LouGHRAN was born at Hamden, Delaware county, 
N". Y., February 1st, 1831. His education was obtained 
solely in the common school of his native town ; and after 
acquiring an ordinary proficiency in the rudimentary 
branches, he learned the clothier's trade, which he contin- 
iied to follow as an occupation nntil the year 1853, at 
which time he engaged in mercantile business, at Wind- 
ham, Greene county. Mr. L. is still a successful merchant 
of that place. 

At the age of twenty-one, he joined his political for- 
tunes with those of the Whig party. When, however, that 
once powerful organization became dissolved, as new inte- 
rests sprang up, he allied himself with the Democrats. 
He has ever since been a steady adherent to their princi- 
ples and modes of action. Nor has the warmth of his 



WILLIAM LOUNSBERY. 287 

devotion to his party gone unrewarded. Pleasant proofs 
of appreciation have, from time to time, been extended 
to him by the conferring of offices of trust upon him. In 
the sprhig of 1854, he was elected Justice of the Peace ; 
and so well did he administer the duties of that office that 
he was re-elected ; and in fact, he has held the position dur- 
ing every subsequent term, down to the present time. In 
1862, he was a member of the Board of Supervisors. Last 
fall he ran for Member of Assembly on the Democratic 
ticket, and was elected by a majority of 925. He is a 
member of the committees on Privileges and Elections 
and Roads and Bridges. 

He is unambitious to be among the leaders of his 
party in the House, and seems always disposed to do his 
duty conscientiously. 



WILLIAM LOUNSBERY. 



Mr. LouxsBERY represents the First Assembly District 
of the county of Ulster. He was born in the town of 
Marbletown, in that county, December 25th, 1831. His 
paternal ancestors are of Welch descent, and some of 
them were among the earliest settlers of Ulster county. 
Nearly all of the name now living in this country, trace 
their origin to the Ulster family. A great uncle (Colonel 
JoHX Loujstsbeby) was a member of the Senate, and of 
the Council of Appointment, during the gubernatorial 
administration of De Witt Clintox; another great 
uncle (Col. Ebenezer Lounsbery) was a member of the 
Senate in 1838, '39. Both served in the war of 1812, in 
which they acquired their military rank. His father, 
JoHX LoUNSBERY, was a member of the Assembly in 



288 LIFE SKETCHES. 

1853, and was classed as a Hunker, in the political divi- 
sions of the Democracy of that i^eriod. 

Mr. LouxsBERY has enjoyed excellent educational 
advantages, which he has not failed to improve. He 
graduated, in 1851, at Rutgers College, obtaining the 
third honor of the graduating class. He studied law at 
the Law School of the University of the city of Albany, 
and was admitted to practice in 1853; and immediately 
opened an office in the village of Kingston. By his care- 
ful preparation of, and faithful attention to, the causes at 
first entrusted to him, he soon obtained tlie confidence of 
the public and a handsome share of business. About two 
years since he entered into copartnership with Hon. 
Erastus Cooke, of Kingston, and the law firm of Cooke 
& LouNSBEKY now occupics a commanding position at 
the Ulster bar, and does a very large share of its business. 

Mr. LouNSBERY has been connected with the editorial 
fraternity, having been from 1S57 to 1861, associated Avith 
Mr. S. IS. HoMMEL in the proprietorship of the Ulster 
Kepublican — now the Kingston Argus — then, as now, 
the recognized organ of the Democracy of Ulster county. 
This was a period of sharp ^^olitical controversy, and Mr. 
LouxsBERY, in such intervals of leisure as were allowed 
him by his profession, entered into the contests of that 
period with spirit and zeal. His editorial articles, like his 
efforts at the bar, were marked by smoothness and 
elegance of style, clearness, directness and force, and 
added greatly to the effectiveness of that journal as a 
party organ. Mr. Lounsbery is no mere slave to his pro- 
fession. He finds time to glean in the broad fields of 
general litei-ature, and hence he naturally became a 
member of the Ulster county Historical Society, and 
took great interest in preparing papers to be read before 
it. The same literary tastes led him to accept invitations 



I 



WILLIAM LOUNSBERY. 289 

to make addresses before the Kingston Literary Associa- 
tions, and the Ulster County Agricultural Society. All 
of these literary productions exhibit fine scholarly tastes 
and attainments ; a clear and practical habit of thought, 
and great felicity of expression. 

With this large and varied experience in law, politics 
and literature, backed by a laudable ambition and an 
ardent temperament, Mr. LouisrsBERY naturally became a 
leading member in the present Assembly. He was selected 
as a candidate by the Democracy of his party with great 
unanimity, and was elected by the largest majority ever 
given in the District for the same office. 

His abilities were appreciated at Albany as well as at 
home, in the organization of the Committees of the 
Assembly, He is Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, 
a position of great responsibility. He is also a member of 
the Committee on Claims. He gives the closest attention to 
legislative matters, and evidently intends to make himself 
entirely familiar with the interests and needs of the 
Empire State. He is fond of social enjoyments that 
partake of a literary character, is well fitted to take part 
in conversation, and greatly delights in a good joke or a 
witty repartee. 



37 



JOHN B. MADDEN. 



Mr. Madden is a native of Ireland. He was born at 
Carronakelle, in the county of Galway, June 13th, 1823. 
His father was an extensive land-holder, and was classed 
as a " gentleman farmer." His position of comparative 
wealth afforded him the opportunity of giving his son a 
classical education. Accordingly the youth was duly pre- 
pared for a collegiate course, and entered the College of 
Esker, in his native county. Subsequently he became 
anxious, like thousands of others of his countrymen, to 
try his fortune in the New World. Convinced that so 
long as England might continue her peculiar mode of 
governing Ireland, there would be little chance of accom- 
plishing much for himself, he resolved to emigrate to 
America, where the rights of men are better respected, 
and every citizen has a voice in relation to the administra- 
tion of the Government. He accordingly took passage 
for the United States, and landed in New York in the 
month of July, 1845. 

As soon as he could properly do so, he took the first 
steps toward becoming a citizen of the country of his 
adoption; and in the Autumn of 1850 he cast his first 
vote. Like a great majority of the men who have come 
from Ireland, he joined the Democratic party, and worked 
vigorously for the promotion of its interests. Mr. Mad- 
den continued to live in New York from 1845 to 1855, 
being engaged in mercantile pursuits. At the end of that 
time, he jDurchased property in the town of Newtown, 
Queens county, where he has ever since resided. 



FRANCIS AVERT MALLISOX. 291 

In the spring of 1860, he was elected Justice of the 
Peace by a majority of thirty-six votes ; and re-elected in 
1863, by 700 majority. In 1807, though there were two 
Democratic candidates in the field against him, he was 
again elected to fill the same position by 400 majority. 
Last fall, Mr, Madden was tendered the nomination for 
member of Assembly, and his great local popularity Avas 
shown by a majority of 1,198, the largest given in his 
district during the past ten years. He is a member of the 
Committee on Privileges and Elections, and Chairman of 
the Committee on Charitable and Religious Societies, and 
is an active and intellioent member. 



FRANCIS AVERY MALLISON. 



Mr. Mallison, one of the representatives of the county 
of Kings, was born in Rome, Oneida county, March 13, 
1832, of Connecticut parentage. His father was of that 
hard worked and poorly paid class, the Methodist clergy, 
and was a teacher in Rome. Sarah Warner was the 
maiden name of his mother. She was from Plymouth, 
Conn. Their son was educated in the Oneida Conference 
Seminary, the Polytechnic School at Chittenango, Madison 
county, and the Seminary at Lowville, Lewis county. 

Mr. Mallison traveled in the west in 1849 and in the 
south in 1851 and 1852, acquiring valuable information 
relative to the characteristics of the people in those sec- 
tions, and the value and products of the territory. He 
was for seven years telegraph operator in Central New 
York. In November, 1859, he settled in Brooklyn, and 



292 LIFE SKETCHES. 

was at once engaged as a writer upon the City News, a 
daily paper, and was subsequently employed on the Daily 
Times, For three years he has been connected with the 
Brooklyn Eagle, the organ of the Democratic party of 
Kings county. He writes under the nom de plume of 
"O'Pake." His contributions are widely admired, and 
have added largely to the popularity and circulation of 
the very influential journal with which he is now connected. 
He was confined in Fort Lafayette four months and two 
days for copying the bogus proclamation of President 
LiNCOLif, commonly known as the Howard proclamation, 
which was published in May, 1864, and for printing which 
the oflices of the New York World and the Journal of 
Commerce were closed by military order. He was sent to 
the Fort May 21, and released September 23, 1864. 

The manner of his release is mentioned by Mr. Carpen- 
ter, in one of his papers containing recollections of Presi- 
dent LiNCOLK^, published in the New York Independent, 
in which he says that " Howard, the proclamation forger 
— a Republican — was pardoned out of Fort Lafayette, 
while Mallisox, his confederate, who was a Democrat, 
continued incarcerated. A Brooklyn gentleman men- 
tioned the fact to Mr. Lincoln. He was busy at the 
time, but said very earnestly, ' Don't leave the city till I 
fix that ; ' and at the first leisure moment he wrote and 
placed in the hands of the gentleman an order for Malli- 
son's unconditional release." This may or may not be 
true, but no one will suppose that President Lincoln 
intentionally kept Mr. Mallison in confinement because 
of any difference in politics. He was too just, not to say 
kind hearted and humane, for that. And we are pleased 
to know that Mr. Mallison accords with us in this view. 

Mr. Mallison was admitted to practice law in the 
Supreme Court of the State, in December, 1806. He has 



JOHX F. MA3^N, 293 

been a member of the Democratic General Committee of 
Kings county for several years, and is a popular, active 
and successful politician. He has never held office before. 
He received a majority of 2,683 for member of Assembly. 
He abounds in humor, and is the wit of the House. 



JOHN F, MANN. 



In the life of Mr. Maxx we have another instance of 
what native talent and tact, backed up by energy and 
perseverance, will do in enabling even the most humble of 
our race to rise in the scale of manhood, and in obtaining 
wealth and influence. He was the son of a carpenter, and 
was born at Lowville, Lewis county, New York, September 
21, 1824. Three years after his birth his parents removed 
to New Bremen, in the same county, making their home 
in a log house, surrounded by an entire wilderness. When 
old enough to labor he assisted his father at the busi- 
ness of house carpenter, receiving in the meantime, such 
education as the common schools of his locality could 
furnish, and obtaining it in those intervals when his 
services could most easily be dispensed with by his father, 
*At the age of twenty-one he commenced attending the 
Lowville Academy, and by teaching occasionally and 
working at his trade when nothing better presented, he 
succeeded in paying for such tuition as that institution 
could give. At the age of twenty-six he secured a place 
as clerk in a store, and served faithfully in this cajjacity 
for four yeai's, carefully saving all his wages not absolutely 
needed for personal expenses. He then commenced keep- 
ing store on his own account. He Avas successful in busi- 
ness, and has secured for himself a fine competence, and 
can now enjoy the fruits of his early self-sacrificing toil. 



294 LIFE SKETCHES, 

In 1855 Mr. Mann was appointed Postmaster at New 
Bremen, his place of residence, and has held the office ever 
since, with the exception of about six months. He also 
acted as Census Marshal in 1855, He was formerly a 
Whig, and became one of the earliest members of the 
Republican party. He is quite active in political matters, 
and has often been chosen to represent his locality in dis- 
trict and State couA^entions, As he is and has been in 
business transactions, so he is and has been found in 
political matters — straightforward and honest. He was 
elected on the Republican ticket to represent Lewis 
county in the Assembly. He is a member of the Commit- 
tee on Public Printing. He takes no part in debate, but 
in a quiet way is very attentive to his duties. 



ANGELL MATTHEWSON. 



Mr, Matthewson was born in Pulaski, Oswego county, 
New York, June 8th, 1837, where he received a good 
academic education. At the age of fifteen he commenced 
learning the printer's trade, in the office of the Pulaski 
Democrat, At twenty-one he was foreman of the job 
department of the Daily Palladium, in Oswego, and a 
year later was city editor of the Palladium, In 1859, 
he went to Utica, where he was employed in the Daily 
Herald office until January 4th, 1860, when he Avent to 
Fort Plain, Montgomery county (his present residence), 
Avhere he soon after purchased a half interest in the 
Mohawk Valley Register. 

September 15th, 1861, he commenced raising a company 
for the War, in Avhich he took a Second Lieutenancy — 



I 



ANGELL MATTHEWSON". 295 

Hon. Lorenzo Crouxse, District Judge of Nebraska, 
being Captain, and Capt. S. Walter Stocking, now Clerk 
in the Executive Deparment of this State, First Lieuten- 
ant. This company rendezvoused at Ehnira, in September, 

1861, Avhere it was attached to the 1st Xew York Light 
Artillery, as Battery "K" of that regiment. May 18, 

1862, Lieutenant Matthewsox Avas appointed Post Adju- 
tant, at Camp Barry, Washington, D. C. 

May 30th, 1862, at Bolivar Heights, near Harper's 
Ferry, with a single liiece of artillery, he routed the 
enemy's sharp-shootei's, and engaged a four gun battery 
for half an hour, handling his gun with such judgment 
and skill that the only damage sustained was the disabling 
of one of the wheels of the gun carriage by a solid shot 
from the enemy, while the enemy's loss, as reported by 
Major Gardner, of the 5th New York Cavalry, was 
seven killed and upwards of fifty wounded. For his 
services on this occasion, he was appointed Ordnance 
Officer on the Staff of Major-General Franz Sigel, June 
7th, 1862, and afterward served in the same capacity on 
the Staffs of Generals Cooper and Augur. 

November, 1862, he was promoted to First Lieutenant, 
and assigned to duty with Battery " D " of his regiment. 

May 23d, 1863, he was appointed Adjutant of his regi- 
ment, and May 25th was appointed Acting Assistant 
Adjutant-General of the Artillery Brigade, First Corps, 
Army of the Potomac, which position he held one year. 

July 1st, 1864, he was promoted to Captain of his 
company, for meritorious service at North Anna River, 
Va., May 23d, 1864, where he was shot through the thigh 
with a Minnie ball, while in command of his Battery 
("D"), and fighting almost a forlorn hope. 

He was in service until the end of the war, three years 
and nine months, and was mustered out at Elmira, New 
York, the 17th day of June, 1865. 



296 LIFE SKETCHES. 

He was engaged in the following battles: Harper's 
Ferry, Cedar Mountain, Rappahannock Station, Freder- 
icksburgh, Chancellorsville, Gettysburgh, Mine Run, Wil- 
derness, Spottsylvania, North Anna River, Siege of 
Petersburgh, Weldon Railroad, Hatcher's Run and Lee's 
surrender, at Appomattox Court House. 

July 1st, 1865, he became sole editor and proprietor of 
the Register newspaper, at Fort Plain, and still conducts 
that paper ; being also one of the proprietors of the Can- 
ajoharie Radii. 

In the fall of 1866, he received sixteen votes in the 
county Democratic ISTominating Convention, for member 
of the Assembly ; and last Fall (without asking or seek- 
ing), was put in nomination and elected by the largest 
majority (seven hundred and twenty-four) ever received 
by any member from Montgomery county ; running two 
hundred and eighteen votes ahead of the State ticket. 

In the field, Mr. Matthewsox was brave, and received 
frequent commendations from his superior officers. He is 
active and energetic, pushing to success vigorously every- 
thing he undertakes. He is a calculating and wise financial 
manager, and in the Assembly is an observing, industrious 
and efficient legislator. He is an easy and graceful writer, 
possesses fine social qualities, and his personal character is 
above reproach. 



JAMES Mc KIEVER. 



Mr. McKiEiTER is the member from the Fourteenth 
Assembly District of New York. For the past three 
years this district has been represented by Plon. Thomas 
J. Creamer (now Senator), whom the present member 
delights to call his friend. Mr. McKiever is a member of 
the Tammany Hall Democracy, and is an active worker in 
its ranks, and a steadfast believer in its principles. He is 
a native of Ireland, having been born in Tyrone county, 
October 23, 1832, and has resided in Xew York city most 
of the time since coming to this country. He is a ship- 
carpenter by trade. In 1861, he held the office of Con- 
stable, and in Janiiary, 1864 was appointed Marshal to 
the Board of Supervisors, but resigned immediately after- 
w^ards. He was elected to the Assembly by a plurality 
of 1,258. He is a member of the Committees on Com- 
merce and Navigation and Charitable and Religious Socie- 
ties. He is modest and unassuming in manner, and has 
many friends both at home and in the Legislature. 



38 



EDMUND MILLER, 



Mr. Miller, who represents the county of Chemung in 
the Assembly, was born in Southport, November 1, 1808. 
His father is of German descent, and his mother a native 
of Connecticut. In 1783, during the French and Indian 
war, his grandfather was taken prisoner by the Indians in 
Northampton county, Penn,, and brought to the head of 
Seneca Lake, where he escaped and returned home. He 
subsequently settled in Southport, and his son, the father 
of Edmukd, who was a farmer, lived and died upon the 
farm now occupied by the latter. 

Mr. Miller's education was confined to the common 
schools, but those advantages were thoroughly improved. 
He has held all the various offices in his town, and has been 
Supervisor for many years, and was re-elected while a 
Member of the House. His varied experience, ripe judg- 
ment and practical common sense render him an invalu- 
able Member of the House. He is a farmer, cattle dealer 
and lumberman. He was elected member by a majority 
of over five hundred, running three hundred ahead of 
his ticket. His competitior was George W. Buck, who 
had been chosen the preceding year by a majority of 110. 

He is a member of the Committee on Claims and Chair- 
man of the Committee on Agriculture. He has always 
been true to the Democratic party, and of great service to 
it. He is a successful politician and a careful legislator. 



JAMES C. MORAN. 



Mr. MoRAX, Avho represents the Thirteenth Assembly- 
District of New York, was born in the Ninth ward January 
22, 1839, and has always resided in tliat city. His ances- 
tors immigrated to this country from Ireland. Mr. Moran" 
obtained his education in the public schools of the city of 
New York, and is a carpenter by avocation. He has never 
before held a political office, but has been an active Demo- 
cratic politician in his ward and district for the last ten 
years. He ran on both the Tammany and Mozart tickets, 
and was elected by a plurality of 636, and a majority of 
248. He serves on the Committees on Public Printing, 
and Trade and Manufactures. As a member of the House, 
he is remarkably quiet, but always attentive to his duties. 



MICHAEL C. MURPHY. 



Mr. Murphy, though still young, has expei-iencecl many- 
exciting adventures, and has won military distinction in 
defending his adopted country. He is a native of Kilmal- 
lock. Limerick county, Ireland, where he was born March 
'Zth, 1839. When about eight years of age, he came to 
America, arriving in New York city, November, 1847. 
"When he reached a suitable age, he learned the printer's 
trade. At the opening of the civil war in this country, 
Mr. MuEPHT, in common with hundreds of others from the 
same avocation, enlisted in the army. April 20th, 1861, he 
was commissioned as Captain in the Ellsworth Regiment 
of Fire Zouaves. After the release of General Corcoran 
from the rebel prison. Captain Murpht resigned his com- 
mission in the Regiment of Zouaves, and joined the " L-ish 
Legion," as Captain. He was promoted January 4th, 
1863, to a Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the 2d Regiment of 
the " Legion." He was closely identified with the move- 
ments of General Corcoran's command, until he Avas 
dismissed from the service by order of General Meade, 
to date from June 9th, 1864, for sending a flag of truce to 
the skirmishing line of the enemy, in an endeavor to save 
the lives of one hundred and five privates and seven 
ofiicers, who were wounded and lying between both lines. 
This took place May 24th, 1864, while he Avas in command 
of the advance line of the Second Division of the Second 
Army Corps. When this dismissal was brought to the 
notice of General Grant, and the facts of the case were 
clearly presented to hira, he justified the course of 
Lieutenant-Colonel Murphy, who was immediately restored 



MICHAEL C. MURPHY. 301 

to his rank, by order of President Lincoln. He left the 
service in March, 1865, in consequence of ill health. He 
was a valorous officer, and a man true to his country. 

The Fenian raid upon Canada, which set the English 
Cabinet in a flutter, made the Canadians quake with sud- 
den fear, and caused her Majesty's troops to suppose that 
the time for field duty had come, will long be remembered 
as a preliminary movement which, though it failed to 
accomplish the purposes of the Irish people, nevertheless 
caused John Bull to cast an inquiring glance toward the 
Emerald Isle, and wonder if Erin was really in earnest. 
Mr. Murphy was General of that portion of the Fenian 
army, in May and June, 1866, which was concentrated at 
Malone, jSTew York, and was intended for the assaulting 
column against Montreal. Every reader is familiar with 
the failure of that undertaking, the causes of which it is 
neither our place nor purpose to discuss. 

In November, 1866, Col. Murphy was elected to the 
Assembly by the Demcrats of the First District of the city 
of Xew York, which is comj^osed of the First, Second, 
Third and Fifth Wards. His majority was 1,496. He was 
appointed on the Committee on Militia and Public 
Defense. He was re-elected in 1867 by a majority of 
1,501, and is a member of the Militia and City Com- 
mittees. 

Colonel Murphy is a practical and proficient legislator. 
He has, at times, a brusqueness of manner which is some- 
what disagreeable to those not entirely acquainted with 
his kindly nature and warm heart. Notwithstanding this 
peculiar characteristic, he soon succeeds in winning the 
good will of those with whom he comes in contact, and 
impresses himself on them as an agreeable gentleman. He 
has a fine military bearing and courteous manner. 



HENRY C. NELSON. 



Mr. Nelson is a native of Sing Sing, Westchester 
county, and was born July 29, 1838. His family is 
Dutch, but by his mother's side he is descended from 
the Huguenot family of Delaxoy. He was educated in 
the public schools of New York, afterward entering the 
Free Academy, where he remained two years. He then 
went into a law office in the city, and was, in due time, 
admitted to the bar. He then entered upon the practice 
of his j^rofession at Sing Sing, where he soon obtained a 
remunerative practice. He was generally popular, and 
was chosen to several positions in the village and town. 
Last fall, he accepted the Democratic nomination for 
Assembly in the Third District of the county, and 
received, somewhat unexpectedly to himself, the majority 
of 991, overcoming a Rej^ublican majority of 630. He 
was promptly assigned a leading position in the House. 
He is Chairman of the Committee on State Prisons, and a 
member of the Railroad Committee and Sub-committee of 
the Whole, thus enabling him to exercise a marked influ- 
ence in shaping legislation. Having succeeded in carrying 
a district heretofore Republican, he is very likely to be 
pressed for re-election, an event which would continue a 
very estimable gentleman in the legislative councils of the 
State. 



AMBROSE NICHOLSON. 



Mr. Nicholson is ca native of Hinsdale, Berkshire county, 
Massachusetts, Avhere he was born March 16th, 1801, His 
father was from Glastonbury, Connecticut, where his 
grandfather also lived during the Revolutionary war, all 
of the male members of whose family were in the army 
during that early struggle of the colonies. Mr. Nichol- 
son's father was in the army of General Washington when 
he evacuated Long Island, and continued in that branch 
of the service to the end of the war. Beino- only sixteen 
years old when he enlisted, his health Avas broken down 
by the hardships of the service, so that, for the last twenty 
years of his life, he was a contirmed cripple. He died in 
1814, at the age of fifty-four. 

Mr. Nicholson's maternal grandfiither was Nathan 
HiBBARD, who removed from Norwich, Connecticut, and 
settled in Hinsdale, Massachusetts, when the country was 
new. He was a leading man in the community, distin- 
guished for his sound judgment and his integrity. He 
was one of those who resisted " Shay's Insurrection," and 
at one time frightened Shay's forces away, by mounting 
a log on cart wheels, and displaying it on an eminence, so 
as to present the appearance of a cannon. He had a son, 
Billy Hibbard, who Avas, for a long time, a traveling 
preacher of the Methodist persuasion, and somewhat noted 
for his strength of character, as Avell as his eccentricities. 

Mr. Nicholson's father, at the time of his death, which 
occurred when this son was thirteen years old, left a 
family of eight children — five daughters and three sons, 
of whom he was the youngest. Up to that time he had 
attended the district school, and had a strong desire to 



304 LIFE SKETCHES. 

acquire a thorough education. But circumstances were 
against his so doing, as shortly after his father's death he 
was apprenticed to learn the tanner's trade. He however 
used such means as he could find to make up for the lack 
of more favorable chances, and, at the age of eighteen, he 
was employed to teach a district school. He followed 
teaching in the winter time for several years. His tastes, 
and also circumstances, led him into mechanical pursuits, 
other than the one to which he was bred. Hence, he 
became a carpenter, then general builder, and then mill- 
wright and machinist. He is now a manufacturer of lum- 
ber, doors, sash and blinds and cheese boxes. 

Mr. Nicholson, for fifteen years, was one of the Super- 
intending Sch<fbl Committee of his native toAvn. He was 
also town clerk for a number of years, and Adjutant in 
the militia of Massachusetts twelve years. 

After he removed to Russia, Herkimer county, N. Y., he 
was elected Justice of the Peace, Road Commissioner and 
Supervisor, notwithstanding the fact that the town was 
Democratic and he a Henry Clay Whig. In 1855 he 
moved with his family to Trenton, where he resided until 
1860, when he removed to Oriskauy, Oneida county, where 
he now resides. Three of his sons were in the Federal 
service during the Rebellion, leaving in his care alone a 
somewhat extensive business. They all returned home, 
but with constitutions impaired by the hardships of war. 
One of them has since died from causes which no doubt 
originated in his army life. Mr. Nicholsox has faithfully 
served under the banner of the Republican party since its 
first organization. Without his knowledge or expectation 
he was nominated for the Assembly and was elected by 
434 majority. He is a gentleman of sound, practical views, 
aspiring to no great personal distinction, and satisfied 
only with an honest discharge of duty. 



DANIEL O'REILLY. 



This gentleman has royal Irish blood in his veins, being 
a descendant of the famous O'Reillys, of the county of 
Cavan, Ireland, who were Princes under the Irish mon- 
ai'chy, and participated in the ineffectual struggles of Erin 
to keep herself an independent government. 

He was born in Cavan county, Ireland, in the year 1839. 
When very young, he left his home, without the know- 
ledge, and, in fact, against the will of his parents, and 
came to New York city, where he obtained an education 
in the public schools. After leaving school, Mr. O'Reilly 
was employed in the manufacture of soda water, for several 
years. But being, at that time, of a restless and ven- 
turesome disposition, he embarked on an expedition to 
Nicaragua, with the late General Walker. The romance 
of his dreams were dissipated by the privations which he 
had to endure. Instead of General V/alker's marching, 
with triumphant banners, to the consummation of success, 
his progress was, inch by inch, disputed, until he found 
his army dwindled down to a mere handful of men. After 
many sufferings, Mr. O'Reilly returned to New York. 

When the late war broke out, he enlisted in the 1 70th 
Regiment, New York State Volunteers, and served xmtil 
the surrender of the rebel forces. He participated in 
twenty-one different battles, among which were those of 
Bristow Station, Mine Run, Chancellorsville, Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania Court House, North Anne River, Peters- 
burgh, Richmond, &c. After his return from the war, he 
was elected School Inspector of the Fourteenth Ward of 
New York, and acted in that capacity until an act of the 
39 



306 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Legislature abrogated tliat office. In the fall of 1866, he 
was nominated by the Mozart Democracy of the Third 
District for Member of the Assembly, and was elected 
against three other candidates, by a plurality of four hun- 
dred and eighty-two votes. He was re-elected to the 
present Assembly by the large majority of four thousand 
one hundred and thirty-four. He is Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Petitions of Aliens, and a member of the Insur- 
ance Committee and Sub-committee of the Whole. 

Mr. O'Reilly is very popular in his district ; is rather 
bluff in his manner, but possesses a good heart and is a 
warm friend. 



JULIUS M. PALMER. 



Mr. Palmer, who represents the Second District of St. 
Lawrence county, is serving his first term in the Assembly. 
Mr. Palmer is a native of New York State, and was born 
in Wilna, Jefferson county, December 11, 1830. He 
received a good education, and at the age of eighteen 
went to Russell, St. Lawrence county, where he acquired 
a knowledge of surveying and followed the business for 
several years. In 1851, he engaged in trade as a 
merchant, in which occupation he has been successful, 
and is a prosperous business man ; his partner at present 
being Hon. Benjamin Smith, who formerly represented 
the same district in the Assembly during two terms. 

Mr. Palmer has taken an active interest in all matters 
of public concern iji the locality where he resides ; was 
chosen Clerk of the town of Russell in 1856, and held the 



JULIUS M. PALMER. 307 

position for six years. He was elected Supervisor in 1 8G2, 
the duties of wliich position he discharged for five years, 
and until he declined further service. Dui'ing his connec- 
tion with the Board of Supervisors, ]\[r. Palmer was 
Chairman of several important comniittees, and also of the 
Commission, appointed in 1866, to equalize the assessment 
of the county, whose report he wrote, and which has 
received very general approval. During the war he gave 
much of his time in aid of all enterprises looking to the 
support of the government, and, in common with his 
fellow-citizens, has given his town a record Avhicli shows 
it to be one of the most jiatriotic in St. Lawrence county. 
He was Recruiting Agent and Treasurer of the " Russell 
Volunteer Association." He was ajjpointed Postmaster 
in May, 1861, by President Lincoln, and was removed in 
November, 1866, by President Johnson. 

Mr. Palmer is an ardent and active Republican, and 
was chosen to represent his district in the Assembly at 
the last election, by a majority of 2,121. He is a member 
of the Committee on the Expenditures of the Executive 
Department. 

Mr. Palmer is a gentleman of quiet habits, of excellent 
judgment, and of unimpeachable integrity. 



DE AVITT PARSHALL. 



Mr. Parshall was born at Palmyra March 23, 1812; 
and is therefore now in his fifty-seventh year. His parents 
were of American birth, and had previously resided in 
Orange county, neighbors of De Witt Cliitton ; and 
in naming his son, the elder Parshall complimented at 
the same time the illustrious founder of the Erie canal and 
a brother surveyor, then well known throughout tlie 
State, Simeon De Witt. 

Mr. Parshall was "brought up to work." His father, 
a surveyor and farmer by occupation, and a bustling, 
energetic, go-ahead man, would tolerate nothing that sav- 
ored of thriftlessness ; and it Avas in his boyhood that his 
son learned those lessons of prudence and good manage- 
ment that have been put in practice with such telling 
results in his maturer life. A common school education, 
with a few terms at the Canandaigua Academy (where 
he was the room-mate of Stephen A. Douglas), were all 
that were afforded him in the way of educational advan- 
tages. Leaving the Academy, he chose the profession of 
the law, and entered the office of the late General William 
H. Adams (at Lyons), then in the height of his fame as an 
able and eloquent counsellor and advocate. Mr. Par- 
shall was in study as diligent as in work, and in good 
time was admitted to the bar ; but the demands of other 
claims upon his attention, prevented him from commenc- 
ing practice until 1840, at which time he had reached the 
age of twenty-eight years. He connected with his prac- 
tice (which soon came to be very large) a real estate 
agency — in which department of business he was, how- 



DE WITT PARSE ALL. 309 

ever, himself the best patron. Buying depreciated farms 
at low figures, he Avould repair the buildings and fences, 
reinvigorate the soil, and put the property in the best pos- 
sible condition — of course, realizing a handsome profit 
when he came to sell, as he deserved to do. This branch 
of business he has continued to the present day ; and it 
is estimated that he owns now, and has owned, since 
1840, in AVayne county, something like ten thousand acres 
of land, in various farms, valued at from $500,000 to 
$600,000. The village of Lyons is largely indebted to Mr. 
Parshall's enterprise ; he having owned, at one time 
and another, more than half the land the village stands 
ixpon ; and besides about fifteen houses now owned by 
him, he has built or refitted upward of seventy-five more ; 
selling them, with building lots, at fair prices and on 
accommodating terms, to mechanics and laborers; thus 
increasing the population of the village and adding to its 
material prosperity. In addition, he owns at jiresent four 
blocks of stores in Lyons — one just completed, the hand- 
somest in the county, and a lasting monument to his 
enterprise and liberality — and others are projected for 
the coming season. Of farm property, Mr, Parshall 
now owns more than two thousand acres ; one parcel 
being the well known " Shaker Tract," on Sodus Bay. 

Li 1852 Mr. Parshall commenced the business of bank- 
ing — starting " The Palmyra Bank of Lyons," afterward 
" The Lyons Bank," and now " The Lyons National Bank." 
This bank is doing a very large business, its capital being 
$100,000, and its circulation $90,000. Mr, P, has, besides, 
extensive banking interests (as well as real estate) in Buf- 
falo, where he has a son engaged in that business ; and also 
much valuable real estate iu the States of Michigan and 
Iowa. In politics Mr. Parshall is a Republican of the 
strictest sect, and has been one since the organization of 



310 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the Republican party, previous to which time he acted 
with the Democratic party. He has several times been 
elected Supervisor of the town and President of the village ; 
but never until now has he been prevailed upon to accept 
any other official position. He was nominated for the 
Assembly because of his peculiar fitness for the place ; 
because of his close identification with the interests of his 
district and county ; because of his well-known executive 
ability ; and because the people would have it so — running 
largely ahead of his ticket at the election. His constitu- 
ents know him for a man of deeds rather than of words — 
a man of work rather than of theories — a man of facts 
and not of fancies ; and they do not expect windy sj)eeches 
from him. But they do expect to find him one of the 
hardest working, most attentive and most influential Mem- 
bers in the House — alive to the public interests, industri- 
ous in advancing them, and free from suspicion. 

Personally, Mr. Paeshall is a man of fine presence, of 
commanding stature, with shoulders scarcely stooped by 
years of bending over his desk ; keen eye ; hair and beard 
bleached with the frosts of advancing years ; and counte- 
nance indicative of the most robust health. Mr. Par- 
shall's appearance is one that strikes a stranger favorably, 
and though a plain man, and making no attempt to curry 
favor with his fellows, his straightforward manner, his 
close attention to business, and his constant endeavors to 
enhance the thrift of his village and county, have won for 
him the confidence and respect of all who know him. 
Emphatically he is a self-made man : one of those who 
have won success and deserved it, too. 



GEORGE J. PENFIELD. 



Mr. Penfield was born March 24th, 1826, in Camden, 
Oneida county, New York. He is tlie youngest son of 
Fowler Penfield, of English descent, who took part in 
the war of 1812, on the western frontier, and who was the 
second son of Jesse Penfield who distinguished him- 
self in the Revolutionary war, having entered the service 
at the age of seventeen. He served in the army, over 
seven years, and was in the battle of White Plains, and 
all the other memorable battles of the Revolution ; he then 
removed from the State of Connecticut to Camden, New 
York, where he lived to a good old age. 

On the maternal side, Mr. Pen^field is of French and 
Holland descent, of the families bearing the names of 
De Milt and Wormsley, that fled from the persecutions 
instituted against the Christians, having left their property 
to be confiscated, and landed on Manhattan Island, when 
New York was but a small village. Benjamin^ De Milt 
was a man of almost unbounded liberality; he donated 
an extensive library to the Mechanics' Library of New 
York city, and appropriated a large amount of money 
to that institution. His maiden sisters bequeathed a great 
portion of their estate to benevolent institutions ; and the 
authorities of New York honored them for the deed, by 
giving one of the Dispensaries their name. 

Mr. Penfield had few advantages for acquiring learn- 
ing. From boyhood to the age of twenty-five, he was 
employed in forming pursuits. Before he was twenty-one, 
he removed, with his father and family, to Westchester 
county, New York. 



312 LIFE SKETCHES. 

For twelve or thirteen years, Mr. Penfield conducted 
a lucrative business, in the town of New Rochelle. On 
the breaking out of the war, he aided in fitting out the 
first regiment of volunteers which went from Westchester 
county, and which pai-ticijiated in the disastrous battle 
of Bull Run. He, and other patriotic gentlemen in that 
vicinity, pledged themselves to the support of the families 
of the soldiers who went out at that time ; and they faith- 
fully redeemed their pledge. And, in fact, all through 
the war, Mr, Pexfield was among the foremost of those 
who assiduously exerted themselves to fill the quotas of 
men, which were demanded for the purpose of filling up 
our broken columns in the field. In 1862, he was elected 
Secretary of the Westchester county Mutual Insurance 
Company, and was subsequently chosen President of it. 
He has also held various town offices. He is now a mem- 
ber of the Board of Education, and one of the Trustees 
of the village of New Rochelle ; and he has twice repre- 
sented his town in the Board of Supervisors, having been 
elected by the Democratic party. He is President of the 
Savings Bank in New Rochelle ; and, as a business man, 
displays eminent characteristics. He very materially aided 
in securing the erection of a new church edifice for the 
congregation of which he is a member, also in improving 
the public schools, in order to meet the growing wants of 
his town, and in accomplishing the incorporation of the 
village of New Rochelle. 

Ml'. Pexfield was a member of the preceding Assembly, 
and performed his legislative work acceptably to his con- 
stituents, and with credit to himself He was re-elected 
to the present Hoxise by a majority four times larger than 
that he received in 1866. He is Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Insurance Companies, and a member of the 
Committee on AflTairs of Villasces. 



EDMUND L, PITTS. 313 

Mr. Penfield is of irreproachable character, and a useful 
citizen. As a legislator, he has made an honorable record, 
aud is highly esteemed by his fellow-members for his uni- 
form courtesy and gentlemanly bearing. 



EDMUND L. PITTS. 



Mr. Pitts is a native of Yates, Orleans county, New 
York. He is not yet twenty-nine years of age ; but he 
has a maturity of mind which is rarely found in one so 
young. When a lad, he attended the academies in the 
vicinity of his home, and was considered to be a remark- 
ably brilliant scholar. A desire sprang up in his mind to 
go through college; and, thei-efore, the mysteries of 
amo-as-at and hoyms-a-xi^n were in due time mastered, the 
classics and mathematics duly conned, and, after a time, 
the boy found himself prepai'ed for the Sophomoi'e year in 
college. During these terms of study, he had an able 
instructor and reliable friend. Professor Charles Fair- 
man, now Principal of the Medina Academy, of whom he 
speaks in Avarm terms of gratitude. "When Mr. Pitts 
was fifteen, he carried off the first prize for declamation at 
a public exhibition, and, from our knowledge of him, he 
has not yet relaxed his study in that direction. But the 
question of a collegiate course was abandoned, because 
his father, though now in comfortable circumstances, was 
then scarcely prepared to take the I'esponsibility of meet- 
ing the bills which would have to be incurred. In the 
year 1859, Mr. Pitts attended the Law School at Pough- 

keepsie, and then read law with Hon. Sanford E. Church, 
40 



314 LIFE SKETCHES, 

at Albion. Such was the rapidity of his progress, he was 
admitted to practice in 1860, about fifteen months after he 
began the study of his profession. In the autumn of 
1860, he entered into a partnership with Adna Boweis", 
Esq., Avhich has continued ever since. Confidence was had 
in his legal acumen ; men trusted the firm with cases of 
importance, and found that they were skillfully managed ; 
and what was, at one time, a promising beginning, has 
ripened into a steady success. 

When Mr. Pitts was nineteen, he was a Douglas 
Democrat, and made campaign speeches in favor of that 
wing of the Democracy ; but when he began to studiously 
weigh the doctrines Avhich he was promulgating, he 
became convinced of their sophistry, and discarded them 
altogether. His first vote, he is proud to say, was cast 
for Abraham Lincoln; and every campaign since he 
was of age, has found him advocating, from the forum, 
almost daily and nightly, the enduring principles of his 
party. In 1862, in convention, Mr. Pitts, without any 
thought that he was even remotely dreamed of for a can- 
didate to the office, came within one vote of the nomination 
for Member of Assembly ; two years after, however, he 
was elected to the Assembly, and has continued to repre- 
sent his district ever since. While carefully watching and 
urging the local interests of his constituents, he has boldly 
battled against the " New York ring," and has never 
hesitated to attack the strongholds of corruption, or to 
tear away the flimsy gauze of trickery. In 1866 he 
introduced a very important amendment into the New 
York tax levy, which met with obstinate resistance from 
certain parties ; and yet, if we mistake not, a subsequent 
decision of Judge Barnard, in relation to the notorious 
gas contract swindle, turned upon that very amendment 
which was finally fought through by Mr. Pitts. He is 



EDMUND L. PITTS. 315 

regarded with confidence by many of the best men of 
New York city, Avho recognize in him the exponent of 
unselfish motives, and the s t ami ch friend of their munici- 
jDality. In the Assembly of 1866, he was Chairman of 
the Committee on Privileges and Elections, and was a Mem- 
ber of the Committee on the Aflfairs of Cities. 

j\[r. Pitts has attained a height of popularity seldom 
reached by men at so early an age. The canvass for 
Speaker of the Assembly of 1867, gave a striking illustra- 
tion of this. His name was mentioned in that connection 
even before the close of the political struggle of the year. 
After the result had become definitely known, and the 
question of Speakership became more generally agitated, 
names of men long indentified with legislative action, of 
conceded ability, and who Avere among the leaders of 
the Republican party, were mentioned as being worthy of 
the honor ; but, as the time for the assembling of the 
Legislature drew near, and previous to the meeting of the 
Republican caucus, one name after another was droj^ped, 
and Mr. Pitts was conceded the candidacy with cordial 
good feeling and perfect unanimity. On the assembling of 
the caucus, he was nominated by acclamation. The comjoli- 
ment was well bestowed, and was in accordance with public 
sentiment. As Speaker of the Assembly, he distinguished 
himself for his ready jDcrceptions, his intimate knowledge 
of parliamentary law, acquired by long familiarity with 
legislation, his impartiality in administering the rules, for 
which he was warmly commended by his political oppo- 
nents, and his speedy dispatch of business. He was 
uniformly courteous, but self-reliant ; and in referring bills 
to the various committees — an act which requires discre- 
tion — he seldom made mistakes. The present session he 
is a member of the Committees on Ways and Means, and 
Privileges and Elections. He has previously served on the 



316 LIFE SKETCHES. 

latter Committee, and uniformly has impressed political 
friends and opponents alike with his impartiality and free- 
dom from partisan bias. In 1866, he reported in favor of 
three Democratic sitting members, and has always acted 
with a simple desire to find according to the law and the 
evidence, insisting that questions of right to hold seats 
should never be allowed to be made political. 

Mr. Pitts is a firm adlierent to the Republican party ; 
he has never had any afiiliation with frauds and corrupt 
measures, and his great aim has been to fight down 
schemes for plunder, and to maintain principles of right, 
irrespective of men. If he has personal ambitions, as it is 
natural he should have, he makes them subservient to the 
general welfare. 

In stature, Mr. Pitts is five feet and four inches. He 
sometimes facetiously remarks that his friends call him five 
feet only, but he is determined to have the benefit of the 
fraction over. He has a pleasant face, which is full of 
animation and character, and a voice whicli is decisive in 
tone when he is in earnest, but sweeping when he is denun- 
ciatory. 



JOHN A. PLACE. 



The First Assembly District of Oswego county is repre- 
sented by John A. Place. It is composed of the city of 
Oswego, together with three of the adjoining towns. 

Ml'. Place was born in the town of Foster, Providence 
county, Rhode Island, in 1823. His parents were of Welsh 
descent, but his ancestors were among the earliest settlers 
of New England, and he comes of as nearly pure " Yankee 
stock " as is often traced in this country. Very early in 
his life his parents removed to Hartford county, Connecti- 
cut, where his schooldays commenced. In 1832, his family 
removed to Oswego, in this State, then comparatively a 
small village, in which, and in its vicinity, his home has 
since continued. 

Mr. Place enjoyed only the advantages of such schools 
as his locality afforded, and most of his education was 
acquired by solitary study. Before his majority, he spent 
four years in the office of the Oswego Palladium, then a 
thorough-going Democratic sheet of the Silas "Wright 
school, in which he thoroughly imbibed Democratic ideas, 
as they were then maintained by the leaders of that party. 

After Mr. Place reached his majority, he was engaged 
for several years in the business of teaching. He very 
early took to the pen, and contributed many articles on 
local and political topics, which were published, sometimes 
anonymously and sometimes as editorial, in the press of 
his locality. In 1848, he purchased the Fulton Patriot, 
then the only Cass paper in Oswego county. Mr. Place 
had always held strong anti-slavery sentiments, and 
obtainins: unlimited control of the columns of a news- 



318 LIFE SKETCHES. 

paper, gave him a long coveted ojDportunity to advocate 
those sentiments with the people. He quietly took pos- 
session of liis office, and it having become current 
through the village that a transfer had been made, the 
issue of the first number was looked for with much soli- 
citude by the people. In the meantime he was waited 
upon by the leading " Hunkers," as the pro-slavery Demo- 
crats were then called, and the most flattering promises 
were made in case the paper continued in the old faith. 
On the other hand he was assured of loss of patronage 
and ruin should he not comply. The "free soilers" 
waited and hoped. The young editor was immovable. 
Hatred of slavery had taken too strongly hold of his 
principles to permit him to hesitate, and in his first 
number he unfurled the banner, for " Free Speech, Free 
Soil, and Free Men." He advocated the jDrinciples of 
the " Buffalo Platform," and supported Van Buren and 
Adams on the national ticket, throughout that memorable 
canvass. Subsequently, when a " union " was patched up 
between the " soft " and " hard sliell " Democrats, the 
Patriot, under Mi\ Place's control, nominally supported 
the Democratic cause ; but he was in every sense of the 
word " independent," and unhesitatingly repudiated the 
principles of the party and its candidates, whenever they 
did not conform to his ideas on the slavery and other lead- 
ing question of tlie day. He has always been outspoken 
upon the temperance question, and has writen and pub- 
lished many articles urging the temperance reform. 

The organization of the Republican party, in 1855, 
found Mr. Place ready and waiting for the movement. 
He had long foreseen that the anti-slavery element in the 
two leading parties of the country, must sometime come 
together, and he welcomed the movement which resulted in 
the formation of the Republican party. He was a member 



JOHNS' A. PLACE. 319 

of the first convention of that party in his OAvn county ; 
was an ardent supporter of Fremoxt and Dayton, and 
subsequently of Lincoln and Hamlin, and has always 
been active in the support of the principles of his party. 

In 1857, Mr. Place was elected School Commissioner 
of the First District of Oswego county. He Avas subse- 
quently twice re-elected, each time with increasing majori- 
ties. While in office, he addressed himself to the elevation 
of the standard of qualification of teachers, and to the 
general improvement of schools. During his term of 
service, a larger number of school houses was erected in 
his district than ever before in the same period ; the aver- 
age of teachers wages was nearly doubled, and the general 
interest in schools was greatly increased. 

In 1854, Mr. T. S. Brigham, of Little Falls, having 
accepted an invitation of the leading commercial men of 
Oswego to commence the publication of the Daily Com- 
mercial Advertiser in that city, invited Mr. Place to 
take charge of its editorial columns ; Avhich position he 
accepted, and has since continued to fill. The leading 
political, commercial and business articles which have 
appeared in the columns of that sheet, have been written 
by him. The Commercial Advertiser has ever been an 
outspoken and earnest advocate of Republican principles, 
while it has also diligently discussed and maintained the 
great commercial interests of the State, and especially of 
its own locality. The best measure of his ability is the 
fact that the Advertiser has attained a larger circulation, 
and is more extensively read than any other paper which 
has been published in his city. 

3Ir. Place is in the vigor of his manhood. This is his 
first term upon the floor, and being in the minority politi- 
cally, he contents himself with looking diligently after 
the interests of his constituents. 



ALEMBERT POND. 



Mr. Pond belongs to tiie class of independent thinkers 
— that is, the class of men who do not ask what Mr. A. 
believes, or what Mr. B. says, before giving an opinion of 
their own. Their opinions are their own, and are founded 
upon a careful examination of questions to be decided, and 
are not shaped by the mere i2>se dixit of some other man. 
He was born August 3d, 1821, at Elizabethtown, Essex 
county, New York. His father was a native of this State, 
and his mother of Vermont. When he was five years old, 
his father died, and he was taken to Schroon, Essex county, 
and there he remained with an uncle until he attained the 
age of seventeen. The following nine years of his life 
were spent at Rutland, Vermont, at the commencement of 
which time he entered the office of Reubex R. Thrall, 
of that place, as a student-at-law. He was admitted 
to the bar, and practiced there some four years, until 
1848, when he returned to the place of his birth, and 
continued to practice law. After a five years' residence 
in that place, he removed to Saratoga Springs in 1853, 
where he has resided ever since, continuing the practice 
of his profession. 

Mr. Pond was originally a Democrat, and when the 
question of slavery began to divide that party, he sided 
with the Free Soil wing. His strong antipathies to 
slavery led him to join the Republican party at the very 
earliest period after its organization. 

Mr. Pond is not a politician in the partisan sense of the 
term. He takes no pains to seek political preferment, and 
is very frank in the expression of his opinions, too much 



ALEMBERT POND. 321 

SO, indeed, to be a successful politician in this ago of 
the world. Some years since he consented to accept the 
nomination for County Judge, but was defeated, partly 
because of his outspoken manner of treating men and 
public questions, and by the union of the Democrats and 
Know Nothings against him. But he stands high among 
those who know him for integrity and honesty, and hence 
he was with groat unanijiity selected as the candidate of 
the Republican party of the Fifteenth Senatorial District 
for Delegate to the Constitutional Convention, a position 
for which his excellent knowledge of fundamental prin- 
ciples of law and political economy, his independence of 
views, and his sincere desire to labor for the good of his 
race, peculiarly fitted him. He was elected, and in the 
Convention took a high rank as a reasoner and debater. 
Last fall he was selected as the Republican candidate for 
member of Assembly for the Second District of Saratoga 
county. As he supposed the Constitutional Convention 
would close its labors before the expiration of the year, he 
consented to take this nomination, and was elected by 457 
majority. 

As a lawyer, Mr. Pond has taken high rank for an inti- 
mate knowledge of cases and precedents, and for great 
familiarity with all the technicalities of the law, not less 
than for large acquaintance with its great principles. He 
is fond of fun, enjoys a practical joke highly, and deliglits 
in witticisms and cutting repartees. He is a member of 
the Committee on Banks, and deservedly ranks as one of 
the ablest members of the House, both in committee and 
on the floor. 

41 



ALPHEUS PRINCE. 



Mr. Prince is a prominent member of the Assembly, 
both from personal appearance and political position. He 
occui^ies a seat by the middle aisle, full in view of the 
Speaker and the House, so that when he rises to make 
a remark or propose a motion, he never fails to obtain 
recognition. He has always been a close observer of 
political affairs, and early became a leading man among 
the Democrats of Erie county. He has earned his place 
on the floor of the Assembly, and fills it with ability and 
dignity. 

Alpheus Peixce was born in the town of Verona, 
Oneida county, in the " Tilden Hill School District," on 
the 13th of December, 1824. He was sent to school from 
an early age, and made rapid progress. The school in 
that neighborhood bore a superior reputation for the 
proficiency of its pupils, having but one rival among 
the district schools of the county. His father, Mr. David 
Prince was an estimable citizen, public- spirited, indus- 
trious, and a most excellent neighbor, who took pleasure 
both in the pursuits of his own family and in rendering 
good offices to others. In 1836 he removed to Newstead, 
in Erie county, whete he still resides. Young Prince 
attended the district school in that town, and afterward 
took an academic course in Clinton, Oneida county, in 
1842-3. Owing to his genial disposition he was always 
popular with his schoolmates, as with his associates in 
subsequent years. He became a farmer, and was suc- 
cessful in the prosecution of business, but being of an 
active tempei'ament, engaged early in politics. He was 



ALPHEUS PRINCE. 323 

always a Democrat, at first a "Barn-burner" or "Soft- 
shell," and afterward a thorough-going party-man. He 
was a delegate to the ISTational Democratic Convention, 
at Charleston in 1860, and has repeatedly been a member of 
the State and local Conventions. As a politician, he 
always possessed the confidence of the late Dean Rich- 
mond, whom he greatly resembles, both in personal 
appearance and in the strong common sense which he 
displays regarding political topics. He has always stood 
well with his party, and is respected by his fellow- 
citizens, as he never unpleasantly obtrudes his opin- 
ions upon those who happen to differ with him. He is 
"six feet high, and well-proportioned," weighing about 
two hundred and fifty pounds. He is rivaled in physical 
proportions only by Mr. Ray, of Ontario, and Mr. Cady, 
of Oneida. His complexion is clear, and his eye brilliant, 
so that he is one of the good-looking, as well as leading 
members of the Assembly. , 

The only important oflices held by Mr. Peince before 
his election to the Legislature, were Deputy United States 
Marshal and Deputy Collector of the Port of Buffalo. In 
1866 he was elected to the Assembly from the Fourth 
District of Erie county, receiving 2,609 votes, a majority 
of 207. Last fall he was again nominated and received 
2,546 votes, a majority of 508. His political friends 
having carried the House, he was at once recognized as 
one of their leaders. His career this winter will be 
important both to his own reputation and to the best 
interest of the State. He occupies the responsible position 
of Chairman of the Railroad Committee. 



SAMUEL M. PURDY. 



West Farms, a town in Westchester county, New 
York, is situated along the Sound, and the Harlem River. 
Its scenery is picturesque ; Bronx River hounding it on 
the east, and Harlem River on the west, and Mill-Brook 
winding its Avay through the central portion ; undulating 
plains, broken, hero and there, by ridges and productive 
and well-tilled farms, all consf)ire to combine within its 
limits a great deal of beauty and utility. Mr. Puedy has 
long been a resident of this town, and ever since he settled 
among its people, has held an honorable rank among his 
townsmen. He was born, August 28th, 1824, in East 
Chester, Westchester county. New York. In youth, he 
received an ordinary English education, and then studied 
law in the office of Samuel E. Lyon, Esq., of White 
Plains. At the age of twenty-five, his law studies having 
been completed, Mr. Purdy passed the usual examination, 
and was admitted to practice, settling in the town of West 
Farms. The people elected him Justice of the Peace, in 
1850, and they have conferred that office upon him, each 
successive term ever since. He was a member of the 
Board of Supervisors, in the years 1855, '56, '61, '64, '65 
and '66, being four times elected without opposition. At 
his election, in 1866, to the office of SujDervisor, out of the 
521 votes cast, Mr. Purdy received 513 ; at the same time 
he was chosen Justice of the Peace by a vote of 518 to 4. 
Evidently the electors of West Farms are very well satis- 
fied with Mr. Purdy. Such local popularity is rarely 
possessed by any man. He enjoys the confidence of the 
inhabitants in his town and vicinity, who often consult 



SAMUEL M. PURDY. 325 

him in business matters, intrust large sums of money to 
him for investment, and act upon his sagacious suggestions. 
He is not a public reformer, but he entertains and practices 
the strictest principles of temperance ; and his personal 
example in this direction, is a potent, silent influence, 
which wins the regard of the community, and places him 
on a high plane of morality. 

In politics, Mr. Purdt was a Whig, until the election 
of James Buchaxaj^^ to the Presidency ; since that time, 
he has most scrupulously indorsed the Democratic plat- 
forms and nominees. While the conflict with the South 
was trc.nspi.-lng, his influence, both in an official capacity, 
and as a private citizen, was used in filling the quotas 
required, each time when there was a call for troops, thus 
saving the town from a draft. He was elected to the 
Assembly of 1867 by a majority of 820, and served on 
the Committee on Internal Aflairs, and has the same posi- 
tion this session. His record in the last Legislature was so 
satisfactory to the people of his district, that he was 
re-elected to the present Assembly without opposition, 
and no doubt will sustain the excellent reputation he has 
acquired as a faithful and successful member. 



WILLIAM B. QUINN. 



Mr. QuiNJf was born on the 18th day of July, 1839, in 
the Eleventh Wai-d of the city of New York, of Irish 
parentage. He received the rudiments of his education in 
the public schools, entered the New York Free Academy 
(now the College of the city of New York) at the age of 
fourteen years, and graduated therefrom with honor in 
1859. Having pursued the classical course, he received 
the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and in 1862 the degree of 
Master of Arts was conferred upon him. While attend- 
ing the Free Academy, he commenced teaching school in 
the public evening schools at the early age of sixteen 
years, and was engaged in other occupations during his 
leisure hours, for the purpose of obtaining the means to 
finish his education. After graduating, he commenced the 
study of law in New York city, was admitted to the bar 
in 1861, and immediately entered upon the practice of his 
profession, and is now engaged in a very lucrative business, 
especially in matters pertaining to real estate. His office 
is at 169 Broadway, and he is a member of the firm of 
"Buckingham, Hayes & Quinn." He commenced his 
political career in the year 1860. He never held any 
public oftice before being elected a member of the present 
Legislature. He was nominated by the Tammany Hall 
and other Democratic organizations to represent the 
Twelfth Assembly District. He was opposed by an 
influential German, and although the German element is 
greatly predominant in his district, was elected by a large 
majority. He is a member of the Committee on Judiciary, 
a position for which his fine talents, legal ability and criti- 
cal judgment appropriately fit him. He is an agreeable, 
affable and industrious member, possessing qualities fitting 
him for both popularity and success. 



JOHN RABER. 



Mr, Raber, Representative of the Sixth District of 
Kings county, is a native of Prussia ; he was born March 
2tl, 1 823. He came to this country when he Avas ten years 
of age; and, until 1841, his home was in the city of New 
York. Though he received but the advantages of an 
ordinary business education, yet he entered upon the active 
pursuits of life, determined to battle successfully. His first 
employment was as a clerk in the agricultural business ; 
in 1850, he was engaged in wire cloth and sieve manufac- 
turing ; in 1857, he was interested in the flour and feed 
trade ; and, some time after, was largely engaged in the 
grocery business. In all of these various undertakings, 
Mr. Raber has met with the success which follows energy, 
enterprise and practical knowledge. 

Mr. Raber has always been an active and unchanging 
Democrat. Not being in any sense an office seeker, 
he was only once before his election to the preceding 
Assembly a candidate for the indorsement of the people. 
He ran for Supervisor of the Sixteenth Ward of Brooklyn 
in 1865, and was defeated through party divisions. But, 
in 1866, he received the unanimous support of the Democ- 
racy, and was elected to the Assembly. He was renomi- 
nated in 1867. The certificate of election was awarded to 
his competitor, Hon. Jacob Worth, but the Gommittee on 
Privileges and Elections awarded the seat to Mr. Rabee, 
and he was admitted by the House March 13. 

Mr. Raber is a quiet man, speaking seldom and then 
briefly; and, as a representative, is attentive and devoted 
to the interests of the public. 



LUKE RANNEY. 



Mr. Ranney is of the most unimiseachable Puritan 
blood of New England. His mother was a lineal descend- 
ant of John Alden, of Plymouth, and the fair Peiscilla, 
who bade the generous youth, when pleading the suit of 
Captain Miles Standish, " speak for himself." Alden 
did speak for himself, and having married her, conducted 
her to his home, seated upon the back of a bull. It was 
a noted couple • two presidents of the United States were 
of that lineage. 

Mr. Ranney is an example of what are usually denomi- 
nated " self-made men." He was born at Ashfield, Frank- 
lin county, Massachusetts, on the 8th day of November, 
1815. He was sent to school early. In 1824, his father 
removed from Massachusetts to Mentz, in Cayuga county. 
Young Ranney had an insatiable desire for books, and 
whatever facii'ties he lacked for instruction, he sought 
eagerly to make up by home study in the chimney corner. 
At the age of eighteen he succeeded in attending a term 
at the academy in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts. His 
father removed to Elbridge, in Onondaga county, and 
Mr. Ranney obtained another season of academical 
instruction, finally qualifying himself as a surveyor. 

Having low arrived at his majority, he went to Van 
Buren county, in Michigan, in company with a brother. 
Here he remained one year, many miles away from the 
" borders of civilization." He returned the next year to 
Elbridge, and in 1839 engaged in teaching in the winter 
school in Throopsville, Cayuga county. He i;aught the 
ensuing winter at Port Byron, and in Throopsville again, 



LUKE EANNEY. 329 

a year later. He then went to Hopkinsville, Kentucky, 
where he spent a year in teaching. He now matured 
tliose decided anti-slavery convictions which characterized 
all his subsequent life. He came in contact with slavery 
only to hate it. In 1843 he returned to this State, mar- 
ried and settled in the town of Brutus. Five years later, 
he again made his home at Elbridge, his present residence. 
While living in the former town, he held the office of 
Town Superintendent of Common Schools ; and upon set- 
tling in Elbridge he showed a taste for politics and public 
business. Upon the formation of the Republican party in 
1854, he took the field in support of its measures, and 
displayed an eloquence which was at once fervid and con- 
vincing. He has ever since that been one of the best 
political speakers in the county. In the year 1857 he was 
elected Supervisor, and the year after was chosen for the 
first time to the Assembly. Major-General Slocum was 
his colleague. Both made their mai-k in the Legislature 
of 1859. Mr. Ranjs-et's speech on the Personal Liberty 
bill, was justly regarded as one of the most able oratorical 
efforts of the session. He was also an active member of 
the Select Committee which reported the first "joro rata 
freight bill," requiring railroad companies to charge for 
carrying freight according to the expense incurred and 
distance transported. That session the famous " Clinton 
League " was organized, for the purpose of securing the 
enactment of the same proposition. He was also a mem- 
ber of the Select Committee that drafted and procured the 
passage of the bill establishing a Board of State Assessors. 
Mr. Raxney was again elected in 1865. The old issues 
had been almost forgotten, and he was less conspicuous. 
His colleagues, Hon. Daniel P. Wood and L. Harris 
HiscocK, may have outshone him, but at the latter part of 
the session the bill was reported at the instance of Hon. 
42 



330 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Hexry R. Selden, to authorize the New York Central 
RaUroad Company to charge an increased rate of fare for 
passengers. Mr. Ranjstey, almost single-handed, encoun- 
tered the ex-judge, meeting argument by argument, and 
endeavored to show by the statistics of the company that 
no such increase was necessary. He was defeated by the 
vote, but had the gratification of beholding his arguments 
and statistics reproduced in Governor Fentojst's admirable 
message vetoing the measure. 

In 1867, Mr. Ranney was again elected by a majority 
of 586. He is in a House politically hostile to him, and 
having little of the work of legislation to perform, he has 
not been heard from as in former years. But the fire is 
tinquenched, and at a proper opportunity he will not be 
silent or inactive. Few men appreciate more highly the 
duties of the representative. 



HENRY RAY, 



Mr. Rat was born at Feniier, Madison county, New 
York, on the 19th of September, 1827. His family were 
from New EngLind, and sustained an excellent reputation. 
His education Avas obtained at the district school, and he 
was a proficient scholar, except so fi\r as his inextinguish- 
able love of fun interfered between him and his books. 
But he had the wit to make his way. 

After marrying, Mr. Ray fixed his home in the town of 
Phelps, Ontario county. Being ambitious, and of a restless 
temper, he could not content himself with a commonplace 
life, but engaged in speculations, which generally proved 
remunerative. In this way he has amassed a handsome 
fortune, which he knows well how to enjoy. 

In 1860, he Avas elected Supervisor of the town, receiv- 
ing a majority of twenty-seven, and was re-elected in 1867. 
His popularity had become general in the county, and in 
the fall he was made the Republican candidate for Member 
of Assembly for the first district. He Avas again success- 
ful, and it is more than likely that he Avill appear again in 
J 869, among the other men that do law-making for the 
State. He is genial, full to the brim of sport, but Avide 
awake when the occasion demands serious exertion. His 
personal reputation is one of Avhich lie may well be 
proud. He is a member of the Committee on the Affairs 
of Villafres. 



JAMES REED, 



James Reed was born on the 19th of August, 1818, in 
New Brunswick, New Jersey. His paternal ancestors 
were Irish, and the maternal ones were German. While 
yet an infant, Mr. Reed was taken to the city of New 
York, by his jjarents, where he resided until fourteen 
years of age, having enjoyed the benefits of a select 
school education. Then going to Yonkers, he engaged to 
a butcher, and thoroughly learned the trade, after five 
years' service. Returning to New York, he went to work 
in the Clinton Market, remained there a short time, and 
then went to Peekskill, where he hired out as a journey- 
man at his occupation. But New York city had too many 
attractions for him, and he soon returned to it, opening a 
market on Avenue B, and then in Broadway. 

Mr. Reed early took an active interest in politics, and 
was a general favorite among the young Democracy of 
1840 and 1844. The first public position ever filled by 
him, was that of Deputy Clerk of Washington Market, 
being appointed in 1852, which position he filled with 
credit to himself and advantage to the city. In 1860, he 
was elected one of the Aldermen of New York, but was 
defeated in his efforts for re-election. He was elected to 
the Assembly of 1867 by a lai'ge majority, and though 
often sick, was very attentive to his duties. A short time 
after the convening of the present House, to which he had 
been re-elected, Mr. Reed died very suddenly in New 
York city. The Assembly passed resolutions appropriate 
to his memory. 



JOHN H. REEVE. 



Mr. Reeve is one of the steady, steadfost kind of men, 
possessing strong attachments and a leaning to things as 
they are, rather than a desire for change ; who entertain 
conservative views and are not easily seduced into new 
beliefs or betrayed into new experiments, and who have a 
hio-her resrard for the wisdom of the founders of our 
republic than for the vagaries of our latter day philos- 
ophers. He represents the Second Assembly District of 
Orange county, and was born in the town of Waway- 
anda, in that county, April 25, 1818. He has resided 
in the same place ever since, and now occupies the same 
farm owned by his father and grandfather before him. 
His grandfather was a native of Suffolk county, Long 
Island, and a soldier in the American army during our 
struggle for National Independence. He took part in, and 
was wounded at, the battle of Minisink, fought on the 2 2d 
day of July, 1779. His flither was a soldier in the war 
of 1812. 

Mr. Reeve received such education as could be gained 
from the common schools of the district in which he 
resided during the days of his boyhood. Arriving at an 
age when the choice of an avocation was presented to 
him, he chose to follow the example of his ancestors and 
be a farmer. 

When old enough to vote, Mr. Reeve sided with the 
Democratic party, and has ever since maintained his con- 
nection with that party. He is not a political manager or 
office-seeker, and yet he has often been honored with pub- 
lic positions. In 1858, he was elected Justice of the Peace 



334 LIFE SKETCHES. 

for his tOAvn ; which office he held for four years. In 
1861, he was elected Supervisor, and has been re-elected 
every year since. In all his official career he has dis- 
played strong common sense and firmness of purpose, 
allied Avith great modesty and simplicity- of manner. His 
nomination to the office he now holds was a great surprise 
to him. He not only had not asked such an honor, but 
more than this, had not thought of such a thing ; and the 
first intimation he had of it was the announcement of 
the fact, made to him by a committee sent from the nomi- 
nating convention for that purpose. He was elected by a 
majority of seven hundred and two, over George Wig- 
gins — the largest majority ever given in the district. 
His majority in his own town was one hundred and ten ; 
the usual Democratic majority being about forty. He is 
a member of the Committee on the Afl:airs of Villages, 
and also of the Committee on Expenditures of the Execu- 
tive Department. 



ALVIN RICHARDSON. 



The Third or Eastern District of Oswego county is 
represented by Alvix Richardson. He was born in 
Whitestown, Oneida county, New York, in 1802. His 
family removed to Mexico, Oswego county, N. Y., in 
1806, his present residence, that section of the State being 
at that early day little else than a Avilderness. Conse* 
quently the changes which liave taken place in the con- 
dition of the society by which he has been surrounded 
during his life time, have been very great, as his town 
at the present time is one of the most flourishing agri- 
cultural districts in that part of the State, and is 
inhabited by as intelligent a class of people as can be 
found anywhere. 

The advent of Mr. Richardson's flimily into his early 
home was in advance of the schoolmaster in that locality. 
Consequently, his early scholastic advantages were very 
limited. He was nearly of age before regular schools 
were introduced. Self-instruction, natural intelligence and 
a sound mind, have been made to compensate so far as 
possible for the advantages now everywhere found, but 
which, during his minority, his locality did not aiford. 
He was early apprenticed to the blacksmith's trade, a call- 
ing which he pursued for several years, but which he has 
finally abandoned for the more congenial pursuits of 
agriculture. 

Mr. RiCHARDSOX has many times been entrusted by h:S 
townsmen with places of responsibility and trust. He 
was elected to the office of Overseer of the Poor in 1839, 
which place he filled several years. For a long series of 



336 LIFE SKETCHES. 

years he has held the office of Justice of the Peace. He 
has the reputation of being a good and upright magistrate, 
and his legal decisions have always been characterized by 
soundness. He was Postmaster at Colosse, a post A'illage 
in his own town, for five years, commencing in 1844, and 
at one time held the office of Deputy United States Mar- 
shal, under Hon. P. V. Kellogg, as Marshal. He has at 
different times held other positions not necessary to detail 
in this connection. 

Although long past the age at which military services 
cease to be due from the citizen, by the laws of the land, 
Mr. Richardson's patriotism was such that in 1861 he 
enlisted, and offered his services as a soldier in putting 
down the rebellion. Xothing but the interposition of the 
regimental surgeon prevented him from going to " the 
front." 

Mr. RicHARDsox was formerly a Wliig, but at once 
enlisted under the Republican banner Avhen that party 
was organized. Although among the oldest members of 
the lower house of the Legislature, his intellect is still at 
its full vigor. As a legislator, he is intelligent, discern- 
ing, and carefully attentive to his duties. 



SILAS RICHARDSON. 



A very important and peculiar element of the Republi- 
can party, comprising too some of its ablest leaders and 
members, is made up of those who, at one period of our 
political history, were known as Free Soil Democrats. 
Driven by their antagonism to slavery, they separated 
from their former political associates, and, seeing no pros- 
pects of success in the endeavor to act as a faction of the 
Democratic party, they coalesced with such of the mem- 
bers of the Whig party as agreed with them in their 
opposition to slavery, and thus added vitality, and gave 
force and power to the Republican party. Of this class 
of Republicans, Mr. Richardson is one. He was born in 
Kennebec county, in the State of Maine. On arriving to 
a proper age to choose for himself, he determined to follow 
the mercantile business. In this he was successful, and 
gained the confidence of his acquaintances, and was made 
the candidate of the Democratic party of his native county 
for Member of Assembly. The Whigs largely prepon- 
derated but he was defeated by only a small majority. In 
common with many other natives of New England, his 
attention was attracted to the fine business opportunities 
oifered by portions of Northern and Central New York, 
and, in 1847, he came to Elmira, and engaged in the 
lumber business. In 1851, he transferred his business to 
Belmont, Allegany county, his present place of residence. 
He acted with the Democratic party until 1852, when he 
joined the Republican party. For five successive years, 
namely, from 1860 to 18G5 inclusive, he represented his 
town in the Board of Supervisors, the two last years 

serving as Chairman of the Board. 
43 



338 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Much against his wishes, he was made tlie candiclate 
of the Republican party of Allegany county for member 
of Assembly, and was elected by a majority of 2,852 over 
Samuel Swain, the candidate of the Democratic party. 

Mr. Rkjhardsox is a shrewd business man, and as such 
has been successful. He has had good educational advan- 
tages, and has learned much from experience and the study 
of current events. He does not make set speeches, but in 
committees and through conversation with his fellow mem- 
bers, exercises a large influence. He is a member of the 
Committee on Public Education. 



JAMES RIDER. 



An old adage says, " Blood will tell." It is no wonder, 
then, that the sons of Revolutionary sires, who took part 
in the great struggle by which this country was fi'ced 
from a foreign bondage, should bear towards the land of 
their birth the deepest and strongest feelings of patriot- 
ism. It is not alone the stories of the trials their ances- 
tors endured in taking part in this struggle, told to the 
children at the fireside, instilling lessons of patriotism, 
that make such children strong lovers of their country. 
There is that in their verj" blood and constitution which 
makes every fiber of their nature throb with patriotic 
impulses. Of this character is the inherited nature of 
Mr. Rider. He was born in the town of Sardinia, Erie 
county, April, 30th, 1828. His father was a soldier in the 
war of 1812, and his grandfather a soldier of the Revolu- 
tion, who served through the whole of that war. His 



JAMES RIDER. 339 

childhood days were spent in laboring upon a farm, and 
in attending a common school. His first ballot was cast 
for the Wliig ticket. He acted with the Whig party until 
the rise of the American party, Avhen he became identified 
with the latter. On the decline of the American party 
be joined the Republican party, with which he has acted 
ever since. 

Mr. RiDEK was elected Supervisor of his town in the 
year 1861, and again in the year 1S62, by an increased 
majority. He was very active in patriotic services in 
behalf of the country during the rebellion. He was 
elected to his present position by the Republican party 
of the Fifth Assembly Disti'ict of Erie county, obtaining 
126 majority over his competitor, Mr. Philip Riley. 

Mr. Rider takes no part in the discussions on the floor 
of the House. He contents himself Avith a quiet discharge 
of his duties, and bringing to bear upon all questions that 
strong common sense and an integrity of purpose which, 
after all, arc of more value to the State than that "gift of 
gab," which makes up in sound and fury what it lacks of 
lo<Tical aro-ument. He is a member of the Committee on 
Ao-riculture. 



JAMES RILEY. 



Mr. Riley, the member from the Seventh District of 
New York, was born in that city October ]7, 1835, 
of Irish parents. He was educated in the public schools 
of New York city. By occupation he is a machinist. In 
the year 1856, he was engaged in the Walker expedition 
to Nicaragua. In the year 18.59, he enlisted in the United 
States Navy, and sailed in the sloop-of-war Brooklyn, 
under the command of the renowned Captain (nowVice- 
Admiral) Farragut, during which time he visited nearly 
all the ports of Mexico and Central America on the 
Atlantic coast, and was also engaged in the surveying 
expedition to Chiriqui. Being in the service at the break- 
ing out of the rebellion, he was very actively engaged in 
hard service during the early part of it, and was at Fort 
Sumter immediately after the firing on the steamer " Star 
of the West" by the rebels. Afterward he was at Fort 
Pickens, in Florida, during the siege of that place ; then 
on blockading service at New Orleans, at the time the 
well known privateer Sumter escaped from the Mississippi 
River, and committed such ravages among our shipping. 
He was discharged from the service in October, 1861. 

Mr. Riley was elected to the Assembly in 1867, from 
the Seventh District of 'New York, on the regular Demo- 
cratic ticket, contending against two other candidates — 
one Republican and one Independent Democrat — receiving 
a plurality of 380 votes. 

Mr. Riley is one of the best looking and agreeable 
members of the House, and is a great favorite among men 
of all pai'ties. He is a member of the Committees on 
Militia and Public Defense, and Roads and Bridges. 



HARPER W. ROGERS. 



Mr. Rogers, who represents the First District of Col- 
umbia county, is, in the strictest sense, a "self-made man." 
By his natural talents, business capacity, indomitable per- 
severance, and high integrity, he has not only won public 
distinction and confidence, but acquired a liberal fortune. 

He was born in Queensboro', Warren county, in this 
State, on the 28th day of September, 1819, and is conse- 
quently in the forty-ninth year of his age. He is possessed 
of a high order of intellect ; is cautious, but firm and 
reliable in his judgment; a sound counsellor; social and 
urbane in manners; and of a noble, generous nature. 
Physically, he is a gentleman of commanding presence, 
and "will Avin respect and confidence in any position to 
which he is called. 

His ancestors were natives of Rhode Island, and 
ranked among the most prominent of the first settlers. 
His grandfather, Samuel Rogers, Avas a Revolutionary 
soldier, and distinguished himself for bravery and patriot- 
ism through that struggle. His father, also named Samuel, 
Avas in his early life an extensive lumber dealer, but after- 
wards engaged in agricultural pursuits. He removed from 
Warren county to Saratoga in 1821 ; and in 1829 changed 
his residence to Stockport, Columbia county. 

Harper followed the business of farming until the year 
1845, when he removed to the city of Hudson and engaged 
in mercantile business to a small extent. At about the 
same time he purchased an interest in a paper mill in the 
town of Claverack. His educational advantages in early 
life had been limited to a country district school, which 



842 LIFE SKETCHES. 

in those clays Aveve far more restricted than at the present 
time. But he possessed a natural capacity for business, 
and had been imbued with the strictest principles of honor, 
integrity and industry. With these as his sole capital, 
judiciously invested and actively employed, both branches 
of his business prospered under his management, and 
gradually increased in extent and profit until he found it 
necessary to relinquish the mercantile branch, from which 
he retired the present year. Mr. Rogers now devotes 
himself exclusively to his paper manufactory, which has 
grown to be one of the most extensive in the State. 

Mr. Rogers has always been a Democrat of the old 
school, and although never seeking political honors, he has 
ever been a prominent man in his party. In 1864 he was 
elected Mayor of the city of Hudson by a very large 
majority, although the political preponderance of the city 
had previously been on the other side. As Mayor he was 
very popular, and his administration was marked with 
ability, impartiality and a deep solicitude for the muni- 
ci])al prosperity. He was urged to accept a re-nomination 
under the assurance that no opposing candidate would bo 
run against him, but, from business considerations he felt 
constrained to reject the flattering honor. Much against 
his inclination, he gave way to the urgent solicitations of 
his party and accepted the nomination for Member of 
Assembly in the last campaign, alter it had been given him 
by acclamation without his knowledge. His great popu- 
larity in the District is shown by the almost unprecedented 
majority (419) by which he was elected. 

Mr. RoGEES has for many years been prominent in some 
of the most important public enterprises, and liberally 
contributes to all projects calculated to elevate, improve 
and add to the religious, moral, and business progress of 
his adopted city. 



SAMUEL ROOT. 



AsAHEL Root, the father of the subject of tliis article, 
emlgi-ated from Farmiiigton, Connecticut, in 1809, to 
Essex county, New York, Those were primitive times, 
in the history of tliat section of the State, and he was 
among the early settlers of that locality, doing- the pioneer 
work of that period. During the memorable contest 
between this country and Great Britain, in 1812-14, he 
entered the service, and at the battle of Plattsburgh, served 
as Lieutenant. Samuel Root, his son, was born March 
7, 1817, at Elizabethtowii, Essex county, New York. His 
educational advantages were good. Besides attending 
the common schools of his native town, he pursued his 
studies at the Westport, New York, and Farmington, 
Connecticut, Academies. Nor did he relax his hold upon 
knowledge after schooldays were over; for, linking thought 
with labor, he arose to the true dignity of toil. Having 
chosen flirming for his occupation, he so far gained the 
respect of his fellow-townsmen as to be deemed both 
worthy and competent, besides holding various town offices, 
to represent them in the Board of Supervisors, which he 
has done for the past six years, being twice elected without 
any opposition. He Avas Chairman of the Board for two 
years, and evinced i'air abilities in the discharge of parlia- 
mentary duties in county legislation. As Supervisor, he 
was very active in raising men to fill the quotas called for 
by the government; and one full company, recruited in 
his vicinity, was attached to the 77th Regiment. 

Mr. Root is a Republican. He was elected to the 
Assembly by 893 majority. The Speaker appointed him 



344 LIFE SKETCHES. 

on the Committee on Federal Relations. He is possessed 
of riouud judgment, and is esteemed for his integrity and 
honesty of purpose. As a legislator, he is prudent and 
reliable. He is keen in discernment, and affable in personal 
intercourse. 



EDMUND F. SARGENT, 



Mr. Sargent was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, on the 
18th of April, 1816. He is descended from an English 
ancestry, of Puritan proclivities, and inherits largely those 
qualities of his race which, for many generations, have dis- 
tinguished it for sterling integrity and uprightness. His 
father died when he was but six years of age, and he was 
early cast upon the world, without patrimony or wealthy 
and influential friends to aid him. As was the case with 
most boys in his circumstances at that day, his education 
was limited, being confined to the branches taught in the 
common schools ; and the advantages thus aflbrded were 
enjoyed by him only for the winter months during the 
period of his early boyhood. But these opportunities were 
not wasted. The lessons of the country school-room were, 
by his native good sense, applied to the purposes of his 
life, and what he learned from books, under the discipline 
of the master, he learned also under the discipline of a 
sterner teaclier — necessity — to apply to business. Res- 
pected for his application, for his integrity and manly 
qualities in his younger days, he came to the full years of 
manhood in the confidence of all who knew him. At the 
ao'c of twelve years, he i-emoved from Brattleboro to the 



EDMUND F. SARGENT. 345 

town of Bangor, in Franklin county, wliere he has ever 
since resided. 

Mr. Sargent has always avoided rather than sought 
public life. He has held, at different times, most of the 
important town offices, including that of Supervisor for 
several terms, the duties of which he discharged with 
fidelity and to the entire satisfaction of his townsmen. 
His nomination to the office which he now fills was made 
without his knowledge, and it was with great difficulty 
that he was finally prevailed upon to accept the position. 
He received a vote of 2,770 against 2,037 cast for his com- 
petitor, B. S. W. Clark, Democrat, thus electing him by 
a majority of 733 — a majority larger, by nearly forty 
votes, than was obtained by any other candidate in his 
county at that election. 

Mr. Sargent has, until within a few years past, followed 
the business of farming, at which he accumulated a mod- 
erate competence. About three years ago he abandoned 
the farm, and engaged in the manufacture of starch and 
flour. In this, as in farming, he has been successful, and 
is widely known as a thorough, upright and intelligent 
business man. 



44 



JOHN H. SELKREG. 



Mr. SelkreCx has been a practical printer, and, con- 
sequently, has had all the varieties of experience and 
change appertaining to that occupation. He is editor 
and proprietor of the Ithaca Journal, a paper which has 
effectively aided in the achievement of many a hard 
fought battle, and which still survives, as Mr. Selkreg, 
by his firm Scotch tenacity, has fully proven. 

His parents died when he was a mere boy (the youngest 
of a family of five children), and left him to the care of 
the older members of the family. He never attended 
school after he was eleven years old, and what little 
education he had gained up to that time, had been 
acquired in the district school at Staatsburgh, New York, 
his native place. His disposition, at the age of thirteen, 
rather inclined to printing, as an occupation; therefore, 
having left his brother-in-law, with whom he had been 
living, he began an apprenticeship in the printmg office 
of the Poughkeepsie Telegraph, then published by Messrs. 
KiLLEY & Low, and which was, at that time, as it now is, 
the Democratic organ of Dutchess county. He continued 
there, until the year 1838. Having arrived at that point 
where he thought himself sufficiently proficient to com- 
mence life on his own responsibility, he became a resident 
of Brooklyn, and, for a few months, entered into a partner- 
ship with the firm of Messrs. Arnold, Van Anden & Co., 
publishers of the Brooklyn Eagle. Not being entirely 
satisfied with his business relations, he returned to Pough- 
keepsie in 1839, and published the Poughkeepsie Casket, a 
literary paper. Two years subsequently, he purchased an 
interest in the Ithaca Joui*nal, and, in connection with Hon. 



JOHN H. SELIvEEG. 347 

A. Wells, continued its iMiblication for several years. He 
afterward became sole proprietor of the establishment. 

The Ithaca Journal was once a Democratic organ of 
Tompkins county. In 1848, Mr. Selkreg refused to sup- 
port Mr. Cass, and ran up Mr. Vax Buren's name. The 
Hunkers established the Flag of the Union, to break down 
the Journal ; but they not succeeding in the attempt, the 
" Flag" was lowered, and the Journal still continued to be 
the exponent of the Democracy. From the year 1850 to 
1856, Mr. Selkreg saw that a great change was being 
wrought in the Democratic party. The repeal of the Mis- 
souri Compromise seemed to him an outrage upon political 
honor. Such was the drift of affairs, he refused to support 
BucHANAx, and advocated the claims of Fremont, thus 
undoubtedly carrying over the county to the " Path- 
Finder," inasmuch as the Republican vote ran up in a 
single yeai*, from 1,460 to 4,030. 

From 1857 to 1861, he discharged the duties of Com- 
missioner of Loans. President Lixcolx made him Post- 
master of Ithaca, in 1861. He was re-appointed, in 1865, 
by Andrew Johnson, who, in the most nonchalant man- 
ner, subjected him to the guillotine, on the 25th of August, 
1866, for refusing to adopt Mr. Johnson's peculiar views. 
Mr. Selkreg survived the shock; and, under the warm 
pi'essure of his friends, accepted the nomination for 
member of Assembly, being elected by a majority of 1,472. 
He was i-e-elected to the present Assembly by a flattering 
majority. 

He has held several offices of business interest. At one 
time he was President of the Ithaca and Binghamton 
Telegraph Company, and he is now President of the Ithaca 
Calendar Clock Company. 

Mr. Selkreg during the session of 1867 was a member 
of the Committees on Ways and Means, and on Banks, 



348 LIFE SKETCHES. 

two of the most important Committees of the House. 
The present Assembly he serves on the former Committee. 
Mr. Selkreg possesses a sound, discriminating judg- 
ment ; has a good deal of dry humor, and is as keen as 
steel. His vigilance is unremitting. In debate he is 
forcible, concise and convincing, and always " hits the nail 
on the head." Short but decisive is his motto. He is a 
very worthy and influential member, and of unquestioned 
integrity. 



WILLIAM C. H. SHERMAN. 



Major Sherman was born in Norwich, Connecticut, 
and is thirty-eight years old. His ancestors were natives 
of Rhode Island. His parents were wealthy, and gave 
him a liberal education. In early life he embarked in 
mercantile pursuits. Before the war he was living in the 
city of New York, Avhere he was engaged as a commission 
merchant in the dry goods trade. At the outbreak of the 
rebellion, he resolved to give his energies to the defense of 
the flag, and when the Seventy-first Regiment went out to 
serve the Government, he, being a member of the organ- 
ization, went with it to the seat of war. Displaying 
business qualities of a high order, as well as soldierly 
gallantry and courage, he was soon called to the Pay 
Department, and being promoted to the rank of Major and 
assigned to duty as Paymaster, accompanied General 
Sherman in his " march from Atlanta to the sea," and 
served in that capacity until the return of peace. It is 
said of him in ofiicial circles that he was entrusted with 



WILLIAM C. H. SHEBMAN, 349 

immense sums of money by his superiors in the aforesaid 
Department, and otherwise given large and important 
responsibilities, and that in no instance did he fail to justify 
the confidence in him so placed. His war record is, alto- 
gether, high, clean and pure. 

After the Avar, he removed to the vicinage of Newbnrgh, 
Orange county. His residence is in the town of New 
Windsor, about two miles from that city. He has engaged 
in no business there, and he is known to his neighbors 
and acquaintances only as a gentleman of leisure, and a 
prominent member of the best society of the section. 

Last fall he was nominated for the Assembly by the 
Democratic Convention of his Assembly District, because 
of his availability as a candidate in a closely contested 
canvass, and of his acknowledged fitness for the office. 
He was largely supported by the soldiers of his district, 
in many cases without distinction of party, and by the 
people of Newbnrgh in the expectation that, if elected, 
he would be to them peculiarly useful in the promotion of 
their local interests. 

His career in the Assembly has fully justified these 
expectations, as he has been very active in furthering the 
fortunes of bills in which his constituents have especial 
concern, and has shown himself to be an effective and 
intelligent legislator. He was awarded the seat by the 
county canvassers, but his right to it is contested by 
George K. Smith, the Republican candidate. At the 
time this article goes to press, no action has been had 
upon the case by the Assembly. 

Major Sherman's private character is unexceptionable ; 
his manners are open, frank and agreeable, and he pos- 
sesses more than ordinary strength of body and mind. 



RANSOM M. SKEELS, 



The name Skeels or Scheele indicates Swedish ori- 
gin. The immediate ancestors of the subject of this 
sketch were descendants of that small but noble State, 
whose soil first resounded with the footsteps of Roger 
Williams, that early pilgrim of liberty. Mr. Skeels was 
born in Hartland, Niagara county, on the 29th of August, 
1825. He is, therefore, now in his forty-third year. His 
higher education was obtained in the Wilson Collegiate 
Institute, of Niagara county. Until the year 1851, after 
leaving school, Mr. Skeels was a farmer. In that year 
and until 1853, he was a Clerk in the Post-office Depart- 
ment at Washington, under Judge N. K. Hall, then 
Postmaster-General. Returning in 1853, at the end of 
President Fillmore's administration, to Lockport, and 
having a penchant for the quill, he embraced the profes- 
sion of journalism, joining his brother in conducting the 
Lockport Courier. In this he continued, to use his own 
language, "until the Whig party was destroyed by 
Seward and Greeley." The next year we find him in 
the West, and connected with the Lafayette (Indiana) 
American, a newspaper independent in politics. Remain- 
ing there a year or so, he again turns his face eastward, 
and once more he is found in the editor's sanctum of the 
Lockport Courier, wielding quill and scissors with his 
usual energ}^ 

In 1 860 he turns up in business in Philadelphia. Whether 
on account of the business depression occasioned by the 
breaking out of the Rebellion, or because of the staid char- 
acter of the city of brotherly love, the year 1861 finds this 



RAXSOM M. SKEELS. 351 

restless spirit again in the village of canal locks in his 
native county. In the years 1864 and 1865 we find him 
publishing the Ogdensburgh Democrat, a paper of staunch 
Democratic principles. Again returning to Lockport in 
1867, he purchased the Lockport Daily Union, which he 
now conducts with signal ability. Although returning to 
their midst only in June last, his Democratic friends 
nominated him to the Assembly in the fall, and in a 
District that gave 150 Republican majority the year pre- 
vious, Mr. Skeels was elected by a majority of 246, thus 
showing a gain of nearly 400 votes. This fact speaks 
significantly for Mr. Skeels' " home strength." 

Mr. Skeels, though in his first term, takes a leading 
position in the Assembly. He is Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on the Manufacture of Salt and second on the 
Committee on Raih-oads — two very important committees. 
He is also on the Sub-Committee of the Whole. 

Mr. Skeels has been in politics more or less since he 
was of the age of twenty-one. He was a national Whig, 
and an ardent admirer of Henry Clay. He never believed 
it was within the province of Congress to legislate for or 
against slavery, believing with Mr. Clay that, if Con- 
gress assumed to prohibit slavery north of a certain line, 
justice demanded equal legislation to protect slavery so?<^A 
of a certain line. He held that federal legislation on the 
subject would engender hatred and end in war, and. the 
endangering of the liberties of the country ; that local 
self-government was the safer principle. Mr. Skeels, 
holding to such a creed, on the expiration of the Whig 
party, allied himself with the Democracy, and is now in 
full sympathy with the aims and purposes of the Demo- 
cratic party. 

In physique, Mr. Skeels is massively built, weighing 
something over two hundred, and is six feet, lacking a 



352 LIFE SKETCHES. 

single inch, in height. He has " knocked about " the world 
sufficiently to have gained an intelligent knowledge on a 
great variety of subjects, all of which renders him more 
valuable as an enlightened legislator. To his experience 
and mental accomplishments, is added a geniality of man- 
ner, Avhich, together, render him a power in the Assembly, 



FRANCIS SKILLMAN. 



This gentleman is a descendant, on the paternal side, 
of Thomas Skillman, and on the maternal side, of 
Adrian Onderdonk, both of whom were Committee- 
Men, during the Revolutionary war, and were confined 
in the notorious "Jersey" prison-ship, at New York, 
Mr. Skillman is thus a relative of the Bishops Onder- 
DONK, of New York and Pennsylvania. He was born 
in Brooklyn, New York, but was reared by his grand- 
father, in the town of North Hempstead, Long Island, 
where he has ever since resided, following the avoca- 
tion of farming. His landed estate is both extensive and 
valuable, and he is one of the best agriculturists in his 
town. He has served his full time in the militia of this 
State as Cornet, Lieutenant and Captain in the Horse 
Artillery. But, in the midst of his labors, Mr. Skill- 
man found time to devote to the reading of law, to 
which his attention was turned by his election as Jus- 
tice of the Peace, nearly twenty years ago, which office 
he has continuously held to the jaresent time. He dis- 
charged the duties of Justice of Sessions for three years ; 
and, ever since he was twenty-one, he has repeatedly 
held town office of some kind. Mr. Skillman never solici- 



CALEB L. SMITH. 353 

ted either a nomination or a vote, and, therefore, when 
the Democratic party of the First District of Queens 
connty nominated him for the Assembly of 1867, he was 
taken somewliat by surprise. He was elected by a majority 
of four hundred and forty-seven, and served as a member 
of the Committee on Trade and Manufactures. He was 
re-elected to the present House by a majority of seven 
hundred and ninety-nine, and is a member of the Com- 
mittees on Aftairs of Villages, and Public Printing. 

In his manners, he is a pleasant, unassuming gentleman; 
and as a legislator, is watchful and industrious. 



CALEB L, SMITH. 



Mr. Smith is one of the attentive and unobtrusive, but 
diligent and serviceable members of the House, and is a 
member of the Committees on Insurance and on State 
Prisons. He was born in New York city November 21st, 
1829. His father and mother were both Americans. They 
removed into the country when he was quite young, and ho 
was brought up on a farm, after the manner of those days, 
working in the summer and going to school in the winter. 
He learned the carpenter's trade, being apprenticed to it in 
Brooklyn, in which city he has since resided ; and is now 
living at No. 138 South Second street, in the Eastern 
District. He has acted with the Democratic party since 
1857. He was elected to the Assembly for the Seventh 
Assembly district of Kings county, comprising the Thir- 
teenth and Fourteenth Wards, the former of which is 
largely Republican, but he carried both wards, and was 
elected by a majority of fourteen hundred and seventy. 
He has lived in th3 wards of which the district is com- 
posed, for the last twenty-five years. 
45 



LEWIS E. SMITH, 



Mr. L. E. Smith was born in Livonia, Livingston county, 
November 25, 1812, and is now the representative of that 
county in the Assembly. His j^aternal ancestors origi- 
nally came to this country from Northumberland, Eng- 
land. His grandfather, Oziel Smith, was a native of 
Rhode Island, and his father, Geokge Smith, of Vermont. 
The latter is still living in Livonia, and is 89 years of 
age. He removed to Livingston county when he was 
eighteen years of age. He held a major's commission in 
the war of 1812, and had command of the boats that were 
used in crossing the river at the battle of Queenstown, 
and was taken prisoner there. In 1821, he was elected 
the first Member of Assembly from Livingston county. 
One of L. E. Smith's female ancestors was a Quaker, and 
in the days when it was thought to be a service to God 
to persecute those inoffensive but stubborn dissenters, 
she was driven through the streets of Boston and pub- 
licly whipped for her principles. Mr. Smith's maternal 
ancestors were from Litchfield county, Connecticut. His 
mother removed from that State to Western New York 
with her father, in 1803, riding all the way on horseback. 

Mr, Smith was educated principally in common schools, 
with some little training in academic schools, where he 
studied mathematics, surveying, Latin and French, before 
studying law. He attended the Law Department of Har- 
vard University for a half-year term, while Judge Story 
and Mr. Greenleaf were law professors there. He was 
admitted to the Courts of Law and Equity of the State in 
1842, and also to the District and Circuit Courts of the 



LEWIS E. SMITH. 355 

United States, He practiced law at Livonia until 1850. 
In that year, on account of ill health, and a serious injury- 
received by being thrown from a carriage, he retired to a 
farm, in Livonia, and has since continued to operate it. 
He was a radical Democrat, prior to 1848, and once run as 
a Democratic candidate for the Assembly. He was a dele- 
gate to the Free Soil Convention which met in Buffalo in 
1848. He took a prominent part in the organization of 
the Republican party, having been Chairman of the first 
Republican County Convention of Livingston county, and a 
delegate to the first Republican State Convention, which 
nominated Clark and Raymond. Mr. Smith Avas a Deputy 
Census Marshal in 1840; has been Town Superintendent 
of Schools, and was Supervisor 1857-GO, and Chairman of 
the Board two years. Mr, Smith's unbending integrity of 
purpose, good judgment and strong sympathy with what 
he deemed righteous causes, have won for him the highest 
esteem. He is quiet and dignified in the discharge of his 
duties, and is a faithful representative. 



ELISHA W. STANNAED 



In the person of Mr. Stax:n'aed we have one of those 
plain but intelligent farmers that form so large a portion 
of the Republican party of Central and Western New 
York, and who do not follow politics for the loaves and 
fishes, but who fully believe in the principles of their 
party, and share in its labors because they hope, by so 
doing, to advance the best interests of their country. 
They do not " lay pipe" to get office, but consent to take 
official position simj^ly in deference to the wishes of their 
neighbors. 

Mr. Stanxard was born at Warren, Herkimer county, 
New York, October 27, 1819. He has been no "rolling 
stone," but, with true love for his native place, and with 
rare contentment for the sphere in which his lot was cast 
by the circumstances of his birth, he has remained a resi- 
dent of the same town during his whole life, and passed 
his days in the quiet and steady performance of the labors 
of a farmer. He has had no educational advantages 
beyond that furnished by the common schools of his town. 

Mr. Staxnard was formerly a Whig, and went with the 
Whigs into the Republican party. Before the organiza- 
tion of the Republican party, however, he was a strong 
opponent of slavery, so much so, indeed, that, in 1848, 
he voted the Free Soil or Van Burex ticket. 

The only political office he has previously held, has been 
that of Supervisor. The town in which he resides is 
nearly evenly balanced politically, the Democratic party 
having a slight preponderance of strength, but Mr. Stax- 
NARD was elected to the office of Supervisor, on the 



DAVID G, STAER. 35 Y 

Republican ticket, in the years 18G1, 1862, 1866 and 186T, 
always running ahead of the average vote of his party. 
He represents Herkimer county in the Assembly, and is a 
member of the Committee on Insurance Companies. He 
is no public speaker, but he is faithful and conscientious 
in examining questions and giving his vote. 



DAVID G. STARR. 



Mr. Starr is a native of Fallsburgh, Sullivan county, 
New York, where he was born, on the twenty-first of 
January, 1837. His youth was spent on a farm, where, by 
vigorous toil, his physical powers were developed in such 
a way as to enable him to bear the tax which an after 
sedentary life Avould impose upon him. The rudimental 
studies which formed the basis of his education, were fol- 
lowed by higher academic branches, which he pursued, for 
a year, at the Charlotteville Seminary, Schoharie county, 
an institution which, at that time, was at the height of 
prosperity. Before entering upon his professional studies, 
Mr. Starr went to Hampton, a small village in Madison 
county, Illinois, situated on the Terre Haute, Alton and 
St. Louis Railroad, where he taught the village school for 
some months. Whether or not his object may have been 
to increase the amount of his finances, it is certain that 
the practical application of what he had learned, more ful- 
ly prepared him for after life. At the end of a year he 
returned home, and, during the following year entered into 
business speculations. In November, 1857, he began the 



358 LIFE SKETCHES. 

study of law, in the office of Hon. A. C. ISTiven, at Monti- 
cello, New York. Subsequently spending a term at the 
Albany Law School, he was admitted to practice, in April, 
1801, and thereupon settled in Monticello, where he has a 
lucrative business, and is looked upon as a laAvyer of prom- 
ise. Being a comparatively young man, and unambitious 
for public notice, his life has been unmarked by thrilling 
episodes. He has been Clerk of the Board of Supervisors 
of Sullivan county, four years; and, in 1866, was elected 
Justice of the Peace. He was a member of the Assembly 
of 1867, serving on the Committee on Claims, and Sub- 
Committee of the whole. In the present house he is Chair- 
man of the Committee on Affairs of Villages, and member 
of the Committee on Public Education. 

Mr. Starr has always been a Democrat, and has scrupu- 
lously indorsed the platforms and candidates of his party. 
He is a shrewd politician, popular at home and in the 
House, and has made a good record as a legislator. 



JAMES STEVENS. 



Among the many rising young men of the central por- 
tion of New York, is the subject of this sketch, who was 
born in the village of Rome, Oneida county, May 9th, 
1836, at which place he now resides. Mr. Stevens rep- 
resents the Third Assembly district of his native county, 
and proves a very serviceable member. 

Quite early in life Mr. Stevexs went to California, where 
he remained several years. He subsequently traveled 
through Central America, and still later made a tour of 
the Western States, and then settled in his native place, 
where he has secured a moderate competence and has been 
repeatedly honored by his fellow-citizens. He was for 
years a prominent officer of the Fire Department ; is Bri- 
gade Engineer, with rank of Major, on the staff of Brigadier- 
General Dering, and is now President of the village of 
Rome, having been elected by the largest majority ever 
given for that office. 

Mr. Stevens is possessed of a fine presence, a good con- 
stitution and more than a usual amount of energy. As a 
business man he has been uniformly successful, a result 
consequent on good judgment rather than what is some- 
times termed " good luck." Possessing a strong and clear 
mind, a good knowledge of public affiiirs, and with 
extended experience in railroad and canal forwarding, Mr. 
Stevens, at the age of thirty-one, is prominently before the 
people of Central New York as a promising business man, a 
warm supporter of Democratic sentiments, and a politician 
who has a record of which no one need be ashamed. Pie is 
in full health, regular in his habits, and looks forward to a 
long and useful life. He is Chairman of the Committee on 
Joint Library, and member of the Committee on Federal 
Relations, and the Canal Fraud Impeachment Committee. 



ROBERT STEWART. 



The parents of Mr. Steavart were both natives of Scot- 
land, and came, while young, to this country, in the latter 
part of the last century. After marriage, they settled in 
Johnstown, Montgomery count}^, of this State, and subse- 
quently removed to Fenner, Madison county. In Fenner, 
in the year 1815, Mr. Robert Stewart was born. He 
received what was regarded in those days as a good 
education, spending some time after leaving the common 
schools, at the Oneida Academy, at Oneida Castle. Though 
reared on a farm, Mr. Stewart early developed a specula- 
tive tiirn of mind. After a few years of dealing in farm 
produce, he associated himself with his brother, in the 
mercantile business, in the village of Chittenango, where 
he has ever since resided. He also engaged largely in the 
manufacture of woolen goods and of high wines, having 
branch establishments in Buftalo. The firm of Stewart, 
Graves & Co., of which he was the head, was at one 
time the most extensive distillers in the State. Mr, 
Stewart's life has therefore been one of active business, 
and as such has been very successful. For some years he 
has been President of the First National Bank of Chit- 
tenango. 

In politics, Mr. Stewart has ever taken a deep interest. 
He was always a Whig until that parly met its death, and 
has since been an earnest member of the Republican 
party. He has held various important town offices, and 
was a member of the Assembly in 1858. He has been 
frequently a delegate to the State Conventions of his 
party, and in 1860 Avas a delegate to the National Conven- 



ALBERT E. SULLARD. 361 

tion at Chicago, which put in nomination Abraham 
Lincol:n. 

Mr. Stewart, as a legislator, attends to his duties as a 
man of business rather than as a politician. Above the temp- 
tations which too often beset legislation, and bringing to the 
discharge of his duties high intelligence, broad experience 
and earnest zeal, he ranks with the very best men in the 
Assembly. 



ALBERT E. SULLARD. 



Dr. SuLLARD is a native of Connecticut, having been 
born in Columbia, Tolland county, in that State, on the 
30th of September, 1819. His father was of French 
descent, and his mother's ancestors were English. When 
five years of age his father removed to Franklin, Dela- 
ware county, New York, and engaged in farming. He 
assisted his father in firm labor, attending common school 
at intervals until sixteen years of age, when he com- 
menced a thorough course of study at the Delaware 
Literary Institute, in Franklin, which he pursued for four 
years. At the close of his Academic term, he chose the 
profession of medicine, and commenced studying with Dr. 
HiNE, of Franklin. He attended lectures at the Albany 
Medical College, and graduated in 1844. He immediately 
commenced the practice of his profession, in Franklin, 
where he has pursued it successfully ever since. 

The Doctor formerly acted with the Democratic party ; 
was a " Free-soiler," but united with the Republican party 
on its organization. He has held several town offices ; was 
46 



362 UFE SKETCHES. 

Superintendent of schools for eight years, and Supervisor 
in 1861, '62, He was elected to the Assembly from the 
First District of Delaware county, by six hvmdred and 
forty-three majority. He is a .member of the Committee 
on Public Health and Medical Colleges and Societies. 

At home, Dr, Sullard is highly esteemed for his many 
excellent qualities. He is classed as a skillful and suc- 
cessful practitioner. As a citizen he is progressive and 
energetic. The Academy in his village has found in him 
a steadfast friend ; and its present prosperity and sound 
basis are due in a large degree to his energy and liberality. 
Mainly through his exertions it has become one of the 
best educational institutions in the State. 

During the session, Dr, Sullakd has made many 
friends. Retiring and unassuming in manners but always 
kind and pleasant, he quietly attends to his duties; 
always giving his vote intelligently, and for what he 
believes to be the best interests of his constituents and 
the public at large. 



JACKSON A. SUMNEU. 



Mr. SintxER is a member of a fomily that has occupied 
a prominent phice in the history of New EngLand ever 
since its settleiuent. Difterent members of the fixmily 
have occujiied high places among its merchants, lawyers, 
ministers and public officers. John Su:mxer, the great 
grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was a ca^itain in 
the Patriot Army during the Revolution, Robekt Sum- 
nek, a son of John, enlisted in the same army at fourteen 
years of age. Increase Sumner, wlio was Governor of 
Massachusetts soon after the Revolution, was a near rela- 
tive of Robert Sumner. 

In 1*792 John Sumner and Robert Sujmner emigrated 
from Ashford, Connecticut, to tlie town of Edinburgli, Sara- 
toga county, in this State, nnd in that place Jackson A. 
Sumner was born, October olst, 1831. 

Having obtained a fair common school education, ]\[r. 
Sumner came to Albany, and attended first a private 
academy, and then the State Normal School. In 1852 he 
accepted an appointment as Chief Distributing Clerk in 
the Troy Post Office, which position he held until 1857. 
In 1858 he entered into copartnership with Mr. Oscar L. 
Hascy, and engaged in the lumber trade in the city of 
Albany, which business he still imrsues. 

Mr. Sumner has never been much of a jjartisau, and up 
to the time he was elected a Member of Assembly by the 
Democratic party in the Tliird District of Albany county, 
liad not held any elective political office. 

Mr. Su:mner is not given to public speaking, but he is a 
man of strong common sense, excellent judgment and 



364 LIFE SKETCHES. 

superior business habits. He is a member of the Commit- 
tee of Ways and Means, and among his associates on 
that committee, and indeed among all who have business 
relations with him, his judgment commands the highest 
respect. If party managers would be more guided by 
the advice of such men, legislative enactments would be 
more in accordance with the needs of the people. 



HENRY F. TARBOX. 



Henry Fisk Tarbox has a soldier's record — a record 
which places him on a nation's roll of honor ; and it is 
with pleasure that we take this opportunity of alluding to 
his participation in the grand work which, through blood, 
and tears, and agonies, has come to a glorious consumma- 
tion — the redemption of the Republic. The Spartan 
mothers were accustomed to take their sons, about to go 
into battle, and, placing their shields in their hands, say : 
" Either this, or xipon this." And American mothers, and 
wives and sisters, for four awful years, responded "Amen !" 
to the heroic sentiment. The people will remember, from 
generation to generation, the military bravery of the 
living and the dead. The latter have given their highest 
treasures for the salvation of our institutions ; and, though 
they may lie in graves far away from home, their deeds of 
valor are undecaying monuments. We make this refer- 
ence because Mr. Tarbox's brother, a member of the same 
regiment, was killed while leading his men in a charge 
upon the enemy. 



HENRY F. TAEBOI. 365 

Mr. Takbox is the son of Henry and Julia Tarbox, 
and is twenty-eight years of age. His fother, a man of 
intelligence, was a bitter opposer of slavery. His mother 
was a descendant of David Brainard, and all her rela- 
tives are Radical Republicans. He spent two years at the 
Genesee College, at Lima, New York, diligently i^ursuing 
classical studies, and then commenced reading law. He 
was admitted to practice in November, 1864, since which 
time he has followed liis profession, at Batavia, New 
York. Prior to his admission to the Bar, he assisted, in 
1862, in raising and organizing the lOSth Regiment, New 
York Volunteers ; personally enlisting over forty men for 
that regiment. He received a commission as Second 
Lieutenant of Company C ; and his brother, D. B. Tar- 
box, was also commissioned to the same rank in Company 
B. Each led his company in the battle of Antietam, 
which transpired within less than a month after the reo-i- 
ment was mustered into service. His brother fell in that 
fight. Mr. Tarbox remained with his regiment until he 
was so far disabled by disease, that he was discharged by 
an order from the War Department. By virtue of a good 
constitution, he afterward so flir recovered from his disa- 
bility, as to be able to accept the position of Assistant 
Paymaster. A year and a half subsequently he resigned, 
and, after completing his studies, entered upon his profes- 
sion, as previously stated. He was a member of Assembly 
in 1867. After his nomination Mr. Tarbox took the 
stump, and rendered essential service to his party in his 
county. The Republicans gave him a majority of 1,400 
over his competitor, who was a Conservative Republican. 
He served that year as a member of the Committees on 
Internal Affairs of Towns and Counties, and Colleges, 
Academies and Common Schools. He was breveted 
Major, during the year 1867, by Governor Fenton, and 



366 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the degree of A. M. was conferred on liini by Genesee 
College in the same year. Mr. Tarbox is an active young 
man; is an influential member of the House; effective in 
debate when he takes the floor ; vigorous, but thoughtful 
in action, and wide awake to the interests of the people. 



E. CURTIS TOPLIFF. 



Mr. ToPLiFF, of Cattaraugus county, is a man whom it 
will pay to know well. He is descended from a Vermont 
family. His parents Avere among the first settlers of 
Chautauqua county. He was born in 1830, and owing to 
the poverty of his family his opportunities for education 
were very limited. But he was ambitious, and at an early 
age entered the office of Judge Cook, of Jamestown, N. 
Y., to engage in the study of the law. But gold was dis- 
covered in California. Mr. Topijp^p" shut up Blackstone 
and Kent, and in 1851, that he might get and make his 
fortune, Avent to California. Three years were spent 
there. He made a voyage to South America, and visited 
the silver mhies of Chili. Returning home, he engaged 
in the lumber b\isiness, finding it impossible to engage in 
a sedentary life. His operations were both extensive 
and successful, and he had a reputation for enterprise, 
shrewdness and fidelity. Few men are stronger in their 
friendships, Avilling to sacrifice almost anything for his 
friends, political or otherwise, and we Avould rather have 
some one else for an enemy. At this time he was a Demo- 
crat in politics, but forsook the party when it adopted the 



E. CURTIS TOPLIFF. 30*; 



territorial i)olicy of 1854. Since that time he has hccn a 
zealous IJepuhliean, and one of the most efficient members 
of the })arty. In 1S61, he was appointed Mail Agent 
through tlie good ofhces of Representative Fextox, his 
personal and political friend, and retained the position two 
years. lie was elected Supervisor of Salamanca in 1863, 
and was twice re-elected. In 18G5, he became for the first 
time a member of the Assembly. He soon displayed rare 
capacity as a working member. President Lincoln had 
made his last call for recruits, and the cpiota assigned to this 
State was considered to be too large. .\ committee of the 
Legislature was sent to AYashington, Mr. Toplifp being 
one of the members on the part of the Assembly. He 
readily comprehended the situation, had a personal con- 
versation with the President, told his story, and the 
mission was successful. Mr. Topliff was re-elected in 
1866, and became one of the most influential members. 
Forgetting every personal slight, he devoted himself to 
the vigorous prosecution of every measure which he con- 
sidered beneficial. 

Uepresenting his District several times in State Con- 
ventions, he Avas always a leading spirit. In the present 
House, being in the minority, his activity has been 
circumscribed, but he is wary, and ready to detect every 
Mse move which his adversaries may make. He is neither 
easy to out-manage nor to beat. His record has always 
been good, and he is foithful to the interests of his con- 
stituents. 



SAMUEL H. TORREY. 



Mr. Torre Y, the father of the subject of this brief sketch 
was born in Connecticut, and when quite young emigrated 
to Western New York. He located at the town of Italy, 
Yates county. It was then an unbroken wilderness. His 
integrity and practical sense gave him a position of influ- 
ence. He was one of those who participated in and shaped 
the destinies of Wesrei-n New York. 

His son, Samuel H. Torrey, was born on the 4th day 
of July, 1816. As was quite common at that period he 
left the parental roof at the age of fourteen years, as an 
adventurer. Resolute, persevering and indomitable, he 
surmounted every hindrance and acquired a liberal educa- 
tion. In 1837 he entered the law oflice of Wilson & 
Lester of Canandaigua, and completed his legal course 
in the oflice of John L. Talcott, of Bufialo. In the year 
1841 he was admitted to the Bar and entered upon his 
professional career at Rushville, Yates county. By indus- 
try, honesty and an aptitude in his profession, he gained 
the confidence and respect of the community and also a 
lucrative practice. This confidence and respect he still 
retains. He married a very estimable lady, a resident of 
Naples, Ontario county, at which place he then located. 
Circumstances as well as inclination now led him into 
agricultural pursuits. In this new vocation his self reliance 
and force of character enabled him to succeed. He became 
a successful husbandman, and an extensive landholder, and 
his opinions and counsel in business matters as well as in 
his profession, are held in high estimation. 



SAMUEL n. TORREY. 369 

His history is an illustration of tlie omnipotence of 
resolution, and the workings of Anierioin life and Ameri- 
can entei-prise. Mr. Torrey is emphatically a self-made 
man. lie has always taken a deep interest in the develop- 
ment and advancement of his town, his county, State and 
the Nation. His earnestness, candor and patriotism have 
given him a deservedly high rank. He has been forced to 
accept various positions of trust in his own town, and 
frequently, when grave questions have been involved, he 
has represented his district at our State Conventions. In 
all of these positions he has met the expectations of a 
confiding constituency. He was a delegate to the National 
Convention which nominated Abrahasi Lincoln for Pres- 
ident. He was elected to the Assembly from the Second 
District of Ontario county, in 1866, serving on the Com- 
mittees on Claims and Aifairs of Villages; and was 
re-elected in 1867. In the present session he is a member 
of the Sub-Committee of the Whole, and the Committee 
on Charitable Institutions. Few men in Ontario county 
enjoy a greater share of the confidence of the masses than 
does Mr. Torrey. Genial in temper, truthful in utterance, 
approachable from inclination, he is a particular favoi-ite. 
As a speaker, he is forcible and earnest, although seldom 
taking part in debate, and gives utterance to his con- 
victions without circumlocution. He has faith in what he 
says, and he manifests this faith by corresponding works. 
He has acquired an honorable record in the Legislature 
for his integrity and ability, and wields a creditable influ- 
ence. The impression is generally obtaining that Mr. 
Torrey is a rising man. 

47 



DEWITT CLINTON TOWER. 



Mr. Tower is one of the Kings connty delegation. He 
was born in Waterville, Oneida county, January 20, 1821. 
His father, Reubex Tower, was one of the most enter- 
prising and liberal men in Oneida county, and represented 
it in the Assembly in 1828. His son received a liberal 
education, and graduated at Harvard College in the class 
of 1842. Mr. Tower was extensively engaged in the dis- 
tilling business in Sangerfield, Oneida county, and was 
Supervisor of the town in 1848 and 1849. He M'as one of 
the most popular men in the town, and although he 
always had a mind of his own, he had the warm friend- 
ship of every one, and not a single enemy. He removed 
to Brooklyn in 1850, continuing as distiller for some time, 
when he engaged in banking, and is now President of the 
Mechanics' and Traders' Bank, at Greenpoint, Mr, 
Tower is a genial and warm friend, good business mana- 
ger, and successful financier. He is Chairman of the 
Committee on Banks. 



PETER TRAINER 



Peteu Traixek was born in the city of Hartford, Con- 
necticnt, May 27, 1833. His early education received care- 
ful attention. Besides the usual instruction in the public 
schools, he also took an academical course at SufReld Insti- 
tute. Coming to New York he engaged in mercantile 
business. The war breaking out, he accompanied the New 
York Volunteers to the field, and rendered valuable service 
to them in various ways, accepting for himself no rank or 
position, but acting as an assistant to the quartermaster. 
Returning home he resumed business as a merchant at No. 
1203 Broadway, and has prosecuted it ever since with suc- 
cess. He has not been known as an office holder, except 
as Trustee of Schools, until his election to the Assembly, 
for which he received 2,644 votes, or a majority of 514 
over Mr. Johx V. GracLEY, Republican. Mr. Trainer is 
a gentleman of fine personal appearance, obliging dispo- 
sition and agreeable manner, and makes a popular repre- 
sentative. He is a good school officer in New York, and 
makes a good Assemblyman. There are few duties which 
he will not discharcre well. 



DAVID UNDERWOOD. 



Mr. Underavood has never, liitherto, mingled much m 
politics. He belongs to that class of men whose minds 
dwell more particularly upon business affairs, and who 
thereby gain a vast fund of good, practical knowledge, 
which is doubly valuable because it has been gathered 
fiom experience. Mr. Uxderwood claims no more than 
he deserves in this direction. His English ancestors came 
to this country before the Kevolutionary war, and settled 
ia Massachusetts. Thence, Mr. Underwood's father 
removed to Marlboro, Vermont, which is the birth place 
of the gentleman of whom we are writing. At the age of 
eleven, the boy, David, came to this State; and, as soon 
as he became old enough, he interested himself in the 
manufacture and sale of lumber. This was more than 
thirty years ago. The growing demand for timber, in 
consequence of increasing enterprise in our cities and vil- 
lages, presented fine opportunities for a sagacious man 
like Mr. Underwood, to extend his business, until he 
arose from a position of comparative Aveakness to one of 
worth and strength. While engaged in his business, he 
forwarded a great deal of lumber to distant markets, and 
thereby had abundant opportunities for learning the wants 
of the Champlain canal, which has been so much neglected 
of late, and the claims of which, the men of Northern 
New York are pressing Avith an earnestness and a vigor 
commensurate with the object in view. And there are 
cogent reasons why their voices should be heard, for the 
vast resources of that region are not yet properly tinder- 
stood by the public at large. But men of Avealth and 



DAVID rXDEKM'OOD. 3*73 

foresight, ■who reside in that section of the State, kno-w 
fall well that ampler facilities ought to be afforded for the 
transportation of the products ^which come from that 
quarter. It was with the object to remedy this state of 
things, that Mr. Uxdeuwood consented to ran for the 
olfice which he now holds in the Assembly. He was 
elected by a majority of 1,403, having run 500 ahead of 
the rest of his ticket. In politics, he has belonged to the 
Republican party evei- since it was formed. As a citizen, 
he is public spirited, and is respected for his many excel- 
Lmt qualities. He is one of the most energetic and influ- 
ential men in the village of Fort Edward, where lie 
resides, and probably to no one, more than Mr. Under- 
wood, is it indebted for its present prosperity and business 
activity. He is a member of the Committee on Canals, 
one of the most important in the House. He is also a 
member of the Committee which impeached Canal Com- 
missioner DoRX, and made an able minority report in the 
matter, in which, while he agreed with the Committee in 
recommending the impeachment of Mr. Doen, he took the 
position tliat the Committee should extend their investiga- 
tions rigidly to all oflicers of the canals who have proved 
recreant to their trusts. 



GEORGE B. VAN BRUNT. 



Colonel George B. Van Brunt was born at Sylvan 
Brook, Staten Island, on the 30tli day of May, 1829. 
Both of his grandfathers were soldiers in the war of the 
Revolution. He was educated in the public schools of 
New York ; and upon the breaking out of the rebellion, 
enlisted in the 47th Regiment of New York Volunteers, 
June 3d, 1861. He was not long in achieving rank, 
being in turn First Lieutenant, Captain, Major, and 
Lieutenant-Colonel. His regiment was attached to the 
Department of the South, consisting of the States of 
South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. His record is that 
of an industrious, courageous and efficient officer — and 
he took part in every engagement in which the regiment 
participated. 

After his discharge, he received the appointment of 
Deputy Surveyor of the port of New York, in December, 
1864. Being in early manhood a Whig, and afterward a 
zealous Republican, he was dismissed from office in April, 
1867. He opened an office immediately as a Real Estate 
Broker, at No. 146 East Fiftieth street; and in the fall 
Avas nominated for the Assembly in the Twentieth Dis- 
trict, receiving a plurality of 106 votes over Henry 
Clausen, Mozart Hall Democrat. He is a staunch 
Republican, preferring principle to position, and doing 
yeoman's service in whatever he undertakes. He is an 
effective member of the Assembly. 



THEODORE VAN VO LKENB URGH. 



Mr. Vax Volkenburgu, when twelve years old, was 
deprived of his flxthor, by death, and was thns left, with 
his mother, in quite straitened, circumstances. Pie was 
born in the city of Albany, April 1st, 1835, and attended 
public and private schools until he was sixteen years of 
age. He then, though so young, began to teach school ; 
anjd succeeded so well that he continued in the same place 
for three years in succession. At the end of that time, 
anxious to become more proficient as a student, he entered 
the Albany Academy. Not long afterwards he left that 
institution, and attended the State Normal School. Hav- 
ing passed through the ditfercnt grades of study to the 
senior year, he was obliged to leave his studies, in order 
to begin the business of life. 

Mr. Ya:s Volkexburgh married when he was twenty- 
one, and immediately thereafter engaged in farming, an 
occupation which he still follows. He is a Democrat. His 
party elected him as Assessor for the town of Watervliet, 
in 1863, and he held that office for three years. Last fall 
he was nominated, by acclamation, for candidate for Mem- 
ber of the Assembly for the Fourth Assembly District in 
Albany county. He was elected by a majority of 328. 
He is on the Committees on Insurance and Petitions of 
Aliens. 

Whatever Mr. Van Volkenbuegh has attained, has 
been accomplished by his own perseverance and foresight. 
Being left without any influential relatives to advise and 
advance him, he was, fortunately perhaps, obliged to work 
out his own course. 



CHARLES H. WEED. 



Mv. Weed is of genuine Yankee blood, tind has had 
some of the roving Yankee's experience. His parents 
were natives of Plymouth, Litchfield county, Connecticut, 
who emigrated to Cazenovia, Madison county, in the year 
1803, at wliich place he was born December 2d, 1810. 
H3 obtained a very good common school education, and 
then became one of tlie seven pupils with which the Oneida 
Conference Seminary was opened, forty-five years ago. 
He has lived to see it one of the most flourisliing institu- 
tions of learning in the State. From the age of eighteen 
to twenty-two he spent the summers in labor upon his 
father's farm, and the winters in teaching school. Li 1832, 
he went into the State of Ohio, and spent some time in 
teaching school, and tlien accepted the position of clerk in 
a store. He remained in the State of Ohio three years, 
and then returned to this State and engaged in the mer- 
cantile business in Onondaga county. In 1854, he was 
appointed Superintendent of one of the divisions of the 
Erie Canal, which office he held for two years, discharging 
its duties to the entire satisfaction of the Canal Board. 

Li 1856, Mr, Weed removed to Weedsport, Cayi;ga 
county, N. Y., and engaged in the distillery business. In 
1862, his distillery buihling was destroyed by fire, involv- 
ing a loss of $50,000. In 1836, he purchased tlie "Putnam 
Mill" site and erected a large flouring mill, and had just 
commenced running it when it was set on fire by an 
incendiary, subjecting him to a loss of $15,000. 

During the rebellion, Mr. Weed was very active and 
efficient in raising recruits for the L^nion army and in 
filling the quotas of his town. 



D. GERRY WELLINGTON, 377 

He was elected a member of Assembly from the First 
District of Cayuga county by the Republican party, 
obtaining 796 majority over Oliver Wood. He is a 
member of the Committee on State Prisons. In com- 
mittee and on the floor of the house he is active and 
vigilant, and though not a great talker, what he says is to 
the point, for he is a man of sound judgment. Socially, 
he is genial and affable, and possesses the qualities which 
secure and retain valuable friendships. 



D. GERRY WELLINGTON, 



Mr. Wellington was born in Cazenovia, Madison 
county, January 8, 1838. He was educated in the Oneida 
Conference Seminary, from which he graduated in 1859, 
and entered Union College, where he passed the Sopho- 
more year, and then entered the Albany Law School, 
from which he graduated in 1801. Being a laborious and 
apt scholar, he was of course thoroughly proficient in his 
studies. In the fall of 1861, he opened an oflice in the 
village of Hamilton, Madison county, and is now engaged 
in the successful practice of law in that village. In the 
fall of 1862, his patriotic impulses led him to abandon his 
growing practice, and he enlisted as a private in the 176th 
Regiment New York State Volunteers, and was immedi- 
ately elected Captain of Company E. His modest distrust 
of his qualifications for the position, led him to decline it, 
but he yielded to the earnest desire of the company that 
he should hold a leading position in their ranks, and 
48 



378 LIFE SKETCHES. 

acceptecl the position of First-Lieutenant. The regiment 
went into camp at Jamaica, Long Island, and remained 
there until January, 1863, when it embarked in the Banks 
expedition for New Orleans. He Avas taken jjrisoner at 
Lafourche Crossing, Louisiana, January 23, 1863, and was 
taken to Camp Ford Tyler, Texas, where he remained 
a prisoner until July 24, 1864 (thirteen months), when he 
was exchanged. He was honorably discharged from the 
service in the following August. He immediately resumed 
the practice of his profession. He was nominated for 
Justice of the Peace of the town of Hamilton in 1 865, 
and was indorsed by the Democratic party, thu^ receiving 
the unanimous support of both parties. He held the office 
thus flatteringly bestowed imtil elected to the present 
Assembly. If any other evidence was needed of his per- 
sonal popularity than was shown in his election as Justice, 
it is found in the vote he received in his native town 
during the canvass for member. The Democratic State 
ticket received 126 votes in the town, and of that vote he 
received 65, leaving his Democratic opponent but 61, thus 
beating him in his own party alone by a majority of four. 
Mr. Wellin-gton is a quiet but active member of the 
House, and is a member of the Railroad Committee. 
When he has anything to say, he presents his points 
clearly and forcibly, and hence, very efiectively. He is 
strong in the regards and esteem of all who have formed 
his acquaintance. 



JARED A. WELLS. 



Mr. Wells' place of nativity is New York city ; but 
owing" to the death of his mother, which occurred in 
1834 — when he was about a year ohl — he was adopted 
by an uncle residing at Rockland Lake, N. Y., Avith 
whom he remained until he was eighteen. During this 
time, he had acquired a common school education. He 
was then sent to a boai'ding school, at Pennington, N. J., 
and subsequently to a like institution at East Greenwich, 
R. L About the time of his return home from the 
latter place, his uncle and aunt died. They had filled 
the places of parents to him, and he felt keenly their 
sudden decease. Mr. Wells soon left the place of his 
adoption, and returned to the city of New York, where 
he remained in the mercantile business until the sum- 
mer of 1861. In that year, he closed up his affairs in 
New York, and removed to Petersburgh, a quiet, rural 
town in Rensselaer county, New York. He was imme- 
diately recognized as a gentleman of worth. In the 
Spring of 1863, the citizens of that town elected him 
to the office of Justice of the Peace ; in the Fall of 1865, 
he was elected Justice of the Sessions, and re-elected 
the next year. He was nominated for Member of the 
Assembly, in the present Legislature, against Albert S. 
Pease, and was elected by 673 majority, being the only 
successful Republican candidate for the Assembly in his 
county. 

Mr. Wells has always been an advocate of Republican 
tenets. His convictions of the true mission of his party 
were firm before the war : and while the Rebellion was in 



380 LIFE SKETCHES. 

progress he gave substantial aid in putting it clown by- 
furnishing a substitute, though he himself was not drafted. 
Mr. Wells served nine years in the 12th Kew York 
Regiment State Militia, and also for three years held the 
position of Captain of Company "A," 9Vth Regiment, 
New York State National Guard, Colonel Schuyler 
Geeenman' commanding. He resigned, however, and was 
honorably discharged from the service. He is an agreea- 
ble acquaintance and an upright man, and is the possessor 
of good mental powers and a kindly heart. He is a mem- 
ber of the Committee on Agriculture. 



STEPHEN H. WENDOVER 



Mr. Wendover Avas, until recently, interested in the 
forwarding business ; he represents the third generation 
of his family continuously engaged therein. His grand- 
fi^ther, Avho was a native and resident of New York city 
at the outbreak of the Revolution, was related to Peter 
Wendover, one of the framers of the first State Constitu- 
tion of New York, and primarily suggested the idea of 
the National Flag as it now is. 

Mr, Wexdover was born in the town of Stuyvesant, 
Columbia county. New York, on the 28th day of July, 
1831. His boyhood was unbroken by any stern neces- 
sities, or pinching privations; his father, a gentleman of 
competence, educated him Avith a view to business, and 
gave him all the facilities necessary to prepare him for 
commercial pursuits. Placing his son in the Kinderhook 
Academy, an institution situated at Kinderhook, Columbia 



STEPHEN H. WENDOVEK. 381 

county, New York, he gave him all of the benefits which 
that school afforded. In 1848, Mr. Wendgter, then 
seventeen years of age, left the Academy, aud became a 
clerk in his father's business, to which he succeeded in 
1855, and Avhich he conducted with fine business skill. 

Mr. Wendover never, until the autumn of 1866, allowed 
his name to be used for the candidacy for office ; but at 
that time, his Republican friends, in vicAV of the political 
strength of the probable competitor, urged liim to run for 
the Assembly, and he was elected by seventy-two majority. 
His strength before tlie people, and which is eminently 
deserved, is shown by his re-election last fall, in a very 
close district. He served in the last Assembly on the 
Committee on Commerce and Navigation, and the present 
session on Trade and Manufactures. Mr. Wexdover, on 
first acquaintance, is somewhat reserved ; but among his 
friends he is genial, and is uniformly polite to everybody. 
He is emphatically a discerning, large-hearted man. He 
is safe as a counsellor, and reliable in action. His integ- 
rity is spotless, and his services invaluable. He is a tower 
of strensrth in the risfht. 



WILLIAM L. WILEY 



Me. "Wiley, member from the 19th District of New 
York, was born in the First Ward of that city on the 
18th of March, 1825. His ancestors, several of wliom 
were soldiers in the Revolntionary war, came to this 
country from Scotland, in 173.5, and became residents of 
that ward, where they continued to reside for nearly a 
century. 

At the outbreak of the Rebellion, Mr. Wiley took 
strong ground in favor of the Government, and Avas asso- 
ciated with General Sickles in raising the Excelsior Bri- 
gade. He acted as Quartermaster, and to his great 
energy, knowledge of the men of New York, and execu- 
tive ability, may be attributed, in a large degree, the 
rapid and successful organization of that brigade. After 
having aided in placing it in the field, and at about the 
time it left New York, Mr. Wiley's presence became 
necessary in the celebrated Hopper will case, he being 
one of the heirs, a case that was severely contested in the 
courts for four years, from the Surrogate's Court to the 
Court of Api^eals, and by the latter decided in his favor. 
Throughout life Mr. Wiley has been an active uncom- 
promising Democrat. He has been conspicuous in the 
organizations of that party, and by his energy, sagacity 
and labors has contributed his full share to its success. 
He is one of the city surveyors of New York. 

Mr. Wiley is a gentleman of commanding presence, 
great power of conversation, quick, keen eye, honest pur- 
pose, which he pui-sues with an unyielding determination, 
and is fully acquainted with city affiairs. He has been for 



OLIVER S. WILLIAMS. 383 

many yenrs a very intiTnatc and familiar friend of James 
GoRDOX BisXXETT, cuitor and proprietor of the Xew York 
Herald, and it is said tliere are few men in New York on 
whose jndgmcnt Mr. Bexxett relies with more confidence 
than upon Mi-. Wiley's. 



OLIVER S. WILLIAMS. 



The fiither of Mr. Williams was in the war of 1812. 
Having been drafted in 1813, he served his time; and, in 
1814, he volunteered into the service. He was engaged 
in the battle of Fort P^rie, and was taken prisoner by the 
British forces ; being held until the declaration of peace, 

Mr. Williams was born in Middlesex, Yates county, 
New York, May 11, 1823. In connection with farming, he 
has also pursued mercantile business for a number of years, 
and dealt considerably in cattle, sheep and wool. From 
comparative indigence, he has acquired a good competence. 

He has held the various oflfices of Justice of the Peace, 
Commissioner of Highways, and Supervisor. He has 
always been elected by the Democrats, with whom he has 
heartily acted. Mr. Williams, last Fall, was first nomi- 
nated on what was termed " The People's Ticket," which 
was made up by a portion of the Republicans, dissatisfied 
with the action of the Republican Convention, Avhich had 
placed in nomination for the Assembly, Hon. Charles S. 
HoYT. This "People's Ticket" was duly indorsed by the 
Democrats, though it was formed of men from both par- 
ties. The result of this coalition was the election of Mr. 
Williams by a majority of 162. He is on the Commit- 
tees on Internal Aftairs, and Manufiicture of Salt, and is an 
attentive member. 



ABNER I. WOOD. 



Mr. Wood was born, February 4th, 1813, and is, there- 
fore, one of the oldest men in the Assembly. At the time 
of his birth, his parents resided in Clifton Park, Saratoga 
county, New York, where his father carried on the business 
of shoemaking and tanning, until the winter of 1835, 
when he removed to Clarkson, Monroe county. He is of 
Irish descent — three generations in his lineage dating back 
to birth under the skies of Erin. His grandfather, in the 
paternal line, when but fifteen years old, enlisted in the ser- 
vice of his country, and served three years in fighting the 
French and Indians, in the old border Avars. When this 
period of strife had passed, he settled in the town of 
Amenia, Dutchess county, became a Baptist preacher, and 
preached to the same congregation until his death, which 
occurred in 1810. 

His facilities for education were very meagre. Even 
such advantages as a common school could give were his, 
only until he attained the age of twelve years. At fifteen 
years of age, he commenced learning the trade of shoe- 
making, wath his father, and continued in that occupation 
until 1844, since which time he has been a farmer. He 
removed from Clarkson to Brockport, Monroe county, in 
January, 1841, and after residing there four years, again 
changed his residence to Parma, in the same county, where 
he has since continued to reside. 

In 1850, Mr. Wood was elected Assessor of his town, 
by the Whig i^arty, which oftice he held three years. He 
had voted with that party since attaining his majority, 
and maintained the same party relations, until the forma- 



ABXEK I. MOOD. 385 

tion of the R. 'publican party. He served his town as 
Supervisor, during- the years 1858, '59, '60 and ^65, liis 
faitlifnhiess as such officer being fully attested by these 
repeated elections. In the fall of 1865, he was elected 
Member of Assembly, by a majority of seven hundred and 
fifty-one over the Democratic candidate. He Avas re-elected 
the following- year by a majority of eight hundi-ed and 
fifty-eight, his OAvn town speaking his popularity at home, 
by giving three hundred and ten of the very flattering 
vote. He served on the Committees on Canals, Charitable 
and Religious Societies, and Expenditures of the Executive 
Department ; of the latter he was Chairman. Last fall he 
-was re-elected for the third time. 

Mr. Wood is an efficient representative. He possesses 
a cordial social temperament, and is at all times courteous 
and obliging. A man of good personal presence, his 
impretending manner readily wins respect and confidence; 
and he blends always with his action, the convictions of 
an earnest. Christian gentleman. 

49 



FRANK H. WOODS 



" A man with noble ancestry," says Paulino, in Bulwei-'s 
Laciy of Lyons, " is like a representative of the past ;" 
but like the supposed prince to whom this eulogy was 
applied, the gentleman whose name stands at the head of 
this sketch is by no means " a pensioner upon the dead." 
Without the favor of wealth or the advantages of paren- 
tal distinction, he began life a poor boy, almost wholly 
dependent, from the very beginning, upon himself for a 
livelihood ; yet, by dint of hard labor and the diligent 
exercise of a will which "never surrenders," he has 
gradiially ascended in the scale of usefulness and honor, 
until he has attained a position second, perhaps, to but 
few men in either branch of the present Legislature. 

Mr. Woods is a native of the First Ward, in the city 
of Albany, where he has always resided. He is only 
about twenty-five years of age, and was educated in the 
English department of the Albany Academy, from which 
he graduated with considerable distinction. Since the 
ao"e of twenty-one, he has devoted himself exclusively to 
the practice of the law, for which he was regularly edu- 
cated, and has already established a reputation for legal 
tact and ability of which much older heads might well 
feel proud. He is now President of the incorporated Fire 
Department of Albany, and was recently one of the Vice 
Presidents of the Young Men's Association, and in both 
of these positions has exhibited a degree of popularity 
which has rendered him almost invincible as a candidate 
before the people. This is especially shown by the mag- 
nificent canvass which he made for the position he now 



FRANK H. WOODS. 387 

holds in the Assembly. At the election the year previous 
the Republican candidate carried the district by about 
seven hundred majority, while Mr. Woods defeated the 
then successful candidate in the same district, at the last 
contest, by a majority nearly as large. The brilliancy 
of his future career is therefore promising, and unless 
some unforeseen misfortune should yet befoll him, he will 
have acquired a reputation at the close of his legislative 
labors which will scarcely be excelled by that of any 
other young man in the State. 

Mr. Woods is, by instinct, a Democrat. From his ear- 
liest youth he has battled manfully in the cause of his 
country as a humble representative of the Democratic 
party. But few men excel him, especially upon the stump, 
and it is seldom, indeed, that a State or Presidential can- 
vass passes in which his voice is not heard. As a member 
of the House he speaks only occasionally, but always to 
the point, and logically. His sound judgment and good 
business qualifications will doubtless render him a safe 
legislator, and he will always be found cautious, deliberate 
and intelligent, committing himself to no rash measures, 
but acting solely in reference to the best interests of his 
constituents and the benefits of the people of tlie whole 
State. 

In social life Mr. Woods is equally popular and well- 
liked — a prince of good fellows, with an open hand and 
generous heart for all his friends. He is very easily 
approached, being utterly devoid of that awkward stifl"- 
ness which spoils the personal demeanor of most public 
men ; and is always sure to make friends of all with whom 
he comes in contact. In his personal appearance he is 
equally attractive ; with his fine, glossy black hair, his 
black, piercing eyes and black mustache, and his ruddy, 
good-natured face. His countenance is always expressive 



388 LIFE SKETCHES. 

and intelligent, and altogether be is sncli an one as the 
fair delight to entangle in their meshes and compel to 
worship at their shrine. 

Mr. Woods is Chairman of the Committee on Privil- 
esres and Elections, and a member of the Committee on 
the Jndiciary. 



TRUMAN G. YOUNGLOVE. 



Mr. Tounglove's ancestors were of English extraction ; 
his paternal and maternal grandfather were both soldiers 
during the Revolutionary war, and both drew pensions 
to the time of their death. His paternal grandfather was 
a native of Connecticut, but- early in life emigrated to 
Vermont, in which State he reared his family. His 
parents, about the year 1800, removed from Vermont to 
Edinburgh, Saratoga county. New York, where the subject 
of this sketch was born October Slst, 1815. The family 
subsequently removed to Onondaga county, where Mr. 
Younglove's youth was spent, obtaining such an educa- 
tion as were afibrded by the common schools of the day, 
and the best select schools in Fabius and Salina, and 
assisting his father in his business, Avhich was tanning and 
shoemaking. 

After working at his trade for some years, Mr. Young- 
LOTE resolved to devote himself to professional life, and 
commenced a course of preparatory study at the Galway 
Academy, then under the charge of Professor Alexaxdeb 
Watson, a teacher of remarkable aptitude and success. 
While prosecuting his studies, he taught a disti-ict school 



TRUMAN G, YOUNGLOVE. 389 

one winter in Fabius and two in Galway. As a student, 
he was noted for his diligence and proficiency, and the 
thorough manner in which he mastered the various 
branches of study assigned to him. He Avas always 
among the first in his classes, not because he strove to 
excel, but because he loved knowledge for its own sake; 
and, in his eagerness for its acquisition, often outstripped 
even the ambitious, seldom failing to win the honors 
accorded to fine scholarship. He early cultivated a taste 
for historical reading, and the lessons of the past have 
still for him a freshness of interest unsurpassed by current 
events of the day. 

With mental habits well formed, and intellectual powers 
adequately trained, professional life ottered to him its dis- 
tinctions; and with a view to such life, he studied law 
with the late Hon. Daiviel Cady, and Hon. Teuxis Van 
Veciitex, in Albany, where he removed in December, 
1846. After completing his studies with these distin- 
o-uished iurists, he was admitted to the bar in 1847, and at 
once commenced practice. Patient to investigate all the 
bearings of a question, persevering in accomplishing his 
undertakings, deeply versed in the science of law, Mr. 
YouxGLOVE had a promising future before him, and would 
doubtless have attained great eminence in his profession ; 
bat soon after commencing practice, he engaged in busi- 
ness enterprises at Cohoes, and has ever since been con- 
spicuously identified with all the interests of that busy 
and thriving town. He went to Cohoes in May, 1850, and 
resided there until 1861, when he removed to Crescent, 
Saratoga county, where he now has an elegant residence. 

At Cohoes, Mr. Younglove began to display the great 
executive talent which has made for him a remarkable 
record. While engaged in a great variety of extensive 
operations, he is perhaps best known as Secretary and 



390 LIFE SKETCHES. 

Agent of the Cohoes Company, an organization that 
entirely controls the magnificent water-power of the place. 
The bnsiness of the Company consists in leasing the water- 
power and real estate to the varions mannfacturing estab- 
lishments, and the charge of it devolves almost exclnsively 
upon Mr. Youxglove. Of this company he is, and has 
been for several yeai-s, a Director. The dam and gate- 
house of the com2>any, recently constructed mainly imder 
his supervision, are among the finest in the United 
States, and the water-power thus made available is 
scarcely equaled by any other in this country. Under 
Mr. Younglove's skillful and efiicient management, the 
development of this water-power has resulted in mak- 
ing Cohoes one of the most important manufacturing 
towns in the country. For several years, he had the entire 
management of the company's large foundery and machine 
shop, both of which were built under his supervision. In 
company with another party, he has been for several 
years engaged in manufacturing straw board, and has had 
the entire direction of the business. In the meantime, one 
of the finest and largest mills in the United States for 
such manufacture, has been erected under his superin- 
tendency. He was a Trustee and also the Secretary of 
the Mohawk River Mills corporation (a company engaged 
in manufacturing knit goods), during the existence of the 
company, and for a considerable time had the entire man- 
agement of its business. Subsequently, at the organiza- 
tion of the Clifton Company, also manufacturing knit 
goods, he became Trustee and President of it, and so 
remains. The same is true as respects his relations 
to the Cohoes Gas Light Company. He has been 
Trustee, Secretary and Treasurer of the Cohoes Sav- 
ings Institution, ever since its incorporation by the 
Legislature in 1851. He is a director in the National 



TRUMAN G. YOUXGLOVE. 391 

Bank of Cohoes, and has been sucli from the organization 
of the Bank as a State institution, in 1859. He is a Direc- 
tor in the Albany City Insurance Company, also a Director 
in the Troy and Cohoes Railroad Company. He was 
Water Commissioner of the Cohoes Water Works, and 
Treasurer of the Water Fund, for six years, and, as such, 
had the principal management in tlie construction of the 
works. His engagements requiring constant professional 
skill, he has kept up his law library and law reading, and, 
on all legal points, he is his own best counsellor. 

Such eminent success in business is remarkable, when 
we consider that the man whose native capacities have 
secured it, had his early boyhood experiences in an 
entirely different direction, as tanner, currier and shoe- 
maker, and who prepared for a professional life exclusively. 

The political career of Mr. Younglove dates from his 
twenty-first year, in which, as a Whig, he was elected 
Inspector of Common Schools, in Fabius, an office to 
which he was chosen a second time. In 1845, he was 
elected justice of the Peace, on the Whig ticket, in the 
town of Gal way, by a majority of twenty-five, when the 
town was Democratic by eighty. At Cohoes, he was 
elected trustee of the village, and held the position of 
President of the Board of Education, for five years in 
succession, previous to his removal to Crescent. In 1864, 
he was the Republican candidate for member of Assembly 
from the First District of Saratoga county, but was 
defeated by thirty-eight majority, a result caused by the 
errors of the soldiers' vote, in the field ; a number of bal- 
lots, evidently intended for him, being cast for the candi- 
date in the Second Assembly District. In 1865, he was 
put in nomination for the Assembly again, and, although 
the district was largely Democratic, was elected by three 
hundred and forty-seven majority. He was Chairman of 



392 LIFE SKETCHES. 

the Committee on Trade and Manufactures. In 1866, lie 
was returned to his seat by five hundred and fifty-nine 
majority. He was a member of the Raih-oad Committee, 
and Chairman of the Insurance Committee, He was 
re-elected in 1867, and was placed on the Committee on 
Internal Affairs of Towns and Counties. 

Mr, YouxGLOVE, in his Legislative career has achieved 
an enviable reputation ; his career has been marked by 
that earnest and honest attention to duty that has charac- 
terized him in all his business operations. Faithful, 
conscientious, incorruptible, he has always stood up as the 
champion of right ; and no measure ever gained his 
approval that did not commend itself to his convictions. 
No breath of suspicion ever tainted his integrity, and the 
lobby was powerless to influence him against liis sense of 
duty. Clear in his reasonings and correct in his conclu- 
sions, his opinions have great weight; and his uniform 
courtesy has won him many friends. His business talent 
and experience have peculiarly qualified him to arrive at 
safe judgments ; and his career has been such as to 
encourage every commercial interest of the State, and 
foster every sound enterprise. 

As a politician, he is keen and sagacious ; his conclus- 
ions are not so much the result of quick intuition as of a 
logical method of reasoning from given premises. They 
are neither hurriedly reached nor hastily expressed. 

As a patriot, earnestly supporting the Government in 
the hour of its greatest need and peril, few men, whose 
engagements kept them from field duty, have more 
unsparingly devoted their time and money to a sacred 
cause, which could only triumph by the offerings v.'illingly 
laid upon the altar of sacrifice. Soon after hostilities 
began, Mr. Youjs^glove hired and equipped a man to 
represent him during the whole war. He also contributed 



TRUMAl^f G. YOUXGLOTE. 393 

largely toward fitting out a company from his county ; 
and by every means in his power encouraged and sus- 
tained his country's cause. 

In all the relations of life he is most exemplary, and his 
character is adorned with many virtues. For a long 
period he has been an active Sunday-school man ; being 
a teacher in Albany ; and, both at Galway and Cohoes, 
was Superintendent of the Sunday school for several years. 
His personal appearance is commanding, and his counten- 
ance reveals a gentle disposition and a benevolent heart. 
He is one of those self made men who, forgetful of self, 
does what he can for the welfare of all around him. 



50 



CORNELIUS W. ARMSTRONG, 

CLEEK OF THE ASSEMBLY. 

Mr. Armstrong is of Scotch and English descent. 
He was born in Hoosick, Rensselaer county, December 18, 
1827. He received a first rate common school education, 
and at the age of sixteen became a clerk, in Penn Yan, 
Yates county, where he remained about four years, and 
then removed to Wayne county. He subsequently located 
in the city of Albany, where he has been engaged in the 
produce commission business for twenty years. He is one 
of the most successful merchants of the^city, driving his 
business with energy, and exercising careful judgment in 
its direction. He is a gentleman of [sterling probity of 
character, respected for his many public virtues by all. 
He is a public spirited citizen, and Albany is deeply 
indebted to him for its prosperity. He received the honor 
of an election to the Presidency of the Board of Trade, in 
1867, an organization noted for the sterling character of 
the men it entrusts Avith responsibilities, as well as for the 
thrift, liberality and enterprise of its members. 

Politically, Mr, Armstrong has always been an uncom- 
promising Democrat of the hard shell school, so that there 
was never any difficulty in placing him. He was a mem- 
ber of the Assembly in ]858, in which body he was recog- 
nized as one of its most able and influential members, and 
was an acknowledged leader of his party. He was nomi- 
nated for Canal Commissioner in 1865, on the Democratic 
ticket, but failed of an election. His systematic business 
habits keep the Clerk's desk and room in the utmost order, 



CORNELIUS W. ARMSTRONG. 395 

and enable him to discharge the immense amount of labor 
which devolves upon him with ready despatch and entire 
satisfoction. His executive talents are of a high order. 
His voice is penetrating, though not so heavy as some of 
his predecessors in office. He is prepossessing in appear- 
ance, tall and w^ell proportioned. 



MEMBERS OF THE SEJSTATE. 



NUMBER OF THEIR RESPECTIVE DISTRICTS, AKD THE COUNTIES AND 
WARDS COMPOSING THE SAME. 



Lieut.-Governor Stewaiit L. Woodford, Brooklyn, Kings Co. 

Dist. Counties and Wards. Senators. 

1. Counties of Suffolk, Queens and Kichmond, Lewis A. Edwards. 

2. First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Seventh, Elev- 

enth, Thirteenth, Fifteenth, Nineteenth and Twen- 
tieth wards of the city of Brooklyn, in the county 
of Kings, James F. Pierce. 

3. Sixth, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Twelfth, Fourteenth, 

Sixteenth, Seventeenth and Eighteenth wards of 
the city of BrookljTi, and the tovras of Flathush, 
Flatlands, Gravesend, New Lots and New Utrecht, 
of the county of Kings, Henry C. Murpht. 

4. First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, 

Thirteenth and Fourteenth wards of the city and 

county of New York, William M. Tweed. 

5. Eighth, Ninth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth wards of 

the city and county of New York, Michael Norton. 

6. Eleventh, Tenth and Seventeenth wards of the city 

and county of New York, Thomas J. Creamer. 

7. Eighteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-first wards of 

the city and county of New York, John J. Bradley. 

8. Twelfth, Nineteenth and Twenty-second wards of 

the city and county of New York, Henry W. Genet. 

9. Counties of Westchester, Putnam and Rockland, . . . William Cauldwell. 
lO. Counties of Orange and Sullivan, William M. Graham. 



MEMBERS OF THE SENATE. 397 

Dlst. Counties and Wards. Senators. 

11. Counties of Dutchess and Columbia, Akiah W. Palmer. 

12. Counties of Rensselaer and Washington, Francis S. Thater. 

13. County of Albany, A. Bleecker Banks. 

14. Counties of Greene and Ulster, George Beach. 

15. Counties of Saratoga, Montgomery, Fulton, Ham- 

ilton and Schenectady, Charles Stanford. 

16. Counties of Warren, Esses and Clinton, Matthew Hale. 

IT. Counties of St. Lawrence and Franklin, Abraham X. Parker. 

18. Counties of Jefferson and Lewis, John O'Donnell. 

19. County of Oneida, Samuel Campbell. 

20. Counties of Herkimer and Otsego, John B. Van Petten. 

21. Counties of Oswego and Madison, Abner C. Mattoon. 

32. Counties of Onondaga and Cortland, George N. Kennedy. 

23. Counties of Chenango, Delaware and Schoharie, . . . John F. Hubbard, Jr. 

24. Counties of Broome, Tioga and Tompkins, Orlow W. Chapman. 

23. Counties of Cayuga and Wayne, Stephen K. Williams. 

28. Counties of Ontario, Yates and Seneca, Charles J. Folger. 

27. Counties of Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben, John L Nicks. 

28. County of Monroe, Lewis H. Morgan. 

29. Counties of Niagara, Orleans and Genesee, Eichard Crowlet. 

30. Counties of Wyoming, Livingston and Allegany, . . Wolcott J. Humphrey. 

31. County of Erie, Asher P. Nichols. 

32. Counties of Chautauqua and Cattaraugus, Lorenzo Morris. 



ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SENATORS, 

The Counties in wMcli they Keside, Post-Office Address and Politics. 



Name of Senators. 


County. 


Post-otfice Address. 


Politics. 


Banks, A. Bleecker, 


Alban}', 






Beach, George, 


Greene, 


Catskill, 


Democrat. 


Bradley, John J., 






Campbell, Samuel, 




New York Mills 


Republican. 
Democrat. 


Cauldwell, William, 


Westchester, . . . 


Morrisania, 


Chapman, Orlow W., 


Broome, 


BinghamtoD, 


Republican. 


Creamer, Thomas J„ 


New York, 


New York, 


Democrat. 


Crowley, Richard 


Niagara, 


Lockport, 


Republican. 


Edwards, Lewis A., 


Suffolk 

Ontario, 


Orient, ... .... 


Democrat. 


Folger, Charles J., 


Geneva, 


Republican. 


Genet, Henry W., 


New York, 


New York, 


Democrat. 


Graham, William M., 


Orange, 


Middletown, 

Elizabethtown, . . . 
Norwich, . . 


Democrat. 


Hale, Matthew . . 


Essex 


Republican. 
Democrat. 


Hubbard, John F., Jr., 


Chenango, 


Humphrej', Wolcott J., 


Wyoming, 

Onondaga, 


Warsaw, 


Republican. 
Republican. 


Kennedy, George N., 


Syracuse 


Mattoon, Abner C, 


Oswego, 

Monroe, 

Chautauqua, . . . 

Kings, 

Erie, 


Oswego, 


Republican. 


Mor;:an, Lewis H., 


Rochester, 

Fredonia, 


Republican. 


Morris, Lewis, 


Murphy, Henry C, 


Brooklj'n, 


Democrat. 


Nichols, AsherP., 


Buffalo, 


Democrat. 


Nicks, John I., 


Chemung, 


Elmira, 


Republican. 


Norton, Michael, 


New York, 

Lewis, 

Dutchess, 

St. Lawrence, . . . 
Kings, 


New York, 

Lowville, 


D( mocrat. 


O'Donnell, John, 


Republican. 
Republican. 
Republican. 


Palmer, Abiah W 


Amenia, 


Parker, Abraham X., 


Potsdam, 


Pierce, James F., 


Brooklyn, 


Democrat. 


Stanford, Charles, ... 


Schenectady, . . . 
Troy 


Schenectady, 

Troy, 


Republican. 
Republ'can. 


Thayer, Francis S., 


Tweed, William 


New York 

Herkimer, 

Wayne, . 


New York, 

Fairfield, 


Democrat. 


Van Petten, John B., 


Republican. 


Williams, Stephen K., 


Newark, 


Republican. 



ALPHABETICAL LIST 



MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY, 

"WITH THE DISTRICTS AND COUNTIES THEY REPRESENT, POST-OFFICE 
ADDRESS AND POLITICS. 

Hon. WILLIAM HITCHMAN, Speaker, New York. 



Die. 


Assemblymen. 


County. 


Post-ofllce Address. 


Politics. 


2 


Ackert, Alfred T., 


Dutchess, 


Khincbeck, 


Democrat. 


1 


AUis, Augustus G. S.,. 


Onondaga, 


Salina,... 


Republican. 


3 








Republican. 
Democrat. 









Brooklyn, 




Babcock, Raj-moud P., 


Cortland, 


Scott, 


Republican. 


2 


Balcom, Lyman, 


Steuben, 


Painted Post, 


Republican. 


1 


Bamler, George J., 


Erie, 


Buffalo, 


Democrat. 


1 


Chautauqua, . . . 
Broome, 




Republican. 
Republican. 




Bennett, Chauncey C, 


Whitney's Point, . 


f 


Bentlcy, William C, . . 
Bergen, William G., .. 


Otsego, 


Butternuts, 


Democrat. 


9 


New York, 


New York City, . . . 


Democrat. 


1 


Blgelow, Lafayette J., 


Jefferson, 


Watertown, 


Republican. 


2 


Bradstreet, N. C, 


Monroe, 


Rochester, 


Democrat. 






Wyoming, 

Dutchess 




Republican. 


1 


Brush, Augustus A., . . 


Fishkill Plains,... 


Republican. 




Buel, Samuel W...... 


Fulton & Hami'n 


Northville, 


Democrat. 


2 


Burhans, Edward I.,.. 


Delaware 


Roxbury, 


Democrat. 


2 


Burns, Dennis, 


New York, 


New York City, . . . 


Democrat. 


1 






Brooklyn, 


Democrat. 


1 


Button, Jonas K., 


Cattaraugus, 


Franklinville, 


Democrat. 


f 


Cady, AlansonB., 

Cameron, WiuBeld S., 


Oneida, 


Waterville, 

Jamestown, 


Republican. 


2 


Chautauqua, 


Republican. 


6 


Campbell, Timothy J., 


New York, 


New York City,... 


Democrat. 



400 



LIFE SKETCHES. 



Dis. 


Assemblymen. 


County. 


Post-office Address. 


Politics. 


1 


Chapman, William H., 
Chism, John C, 


Oneida, ■. 


Washington Mills, . 
Guilderland, 


Democrat. 


1 


Albany, 


Democrat. 




Clark, George, 


Schuyler, 


Altay, 


Republican. 




Clark, William S., .... 


Schoharie, 


Sloansville, 


Democrat. 




Cook William F , 




Champlaiu, 

Alexandria Bay, . . 


Republican. 


2 


Cornwall, Andrew, 


Jefferson, 


Democrat. 





Daily, Nathaniel, 

Davis, John M., 


Washington, .... 


Hampton, 


Republican. 


1 


Monroe, 


Honeoye Falls, 


Republican. 


S 


Dayton, Lewis P., 


Erie, 


North Buffalo, 


Democrat. 






Richmond, 

Onondaga, 


Port Richmond, . . . 
Fayetteville, 


Democrat. 


3 


Eaton, Hiram, 


Republican. 


9 


Farley, Benjamin, 

Flach, Kichard, 

Flagg, John L., 


Niagara, 

Erie, 


Coomer, 


Republican. 


9 


Buffalo, 


Democrat. 


1 


Eensselaer, 


Troy, 


Democrat. 


17 


Flagge, Frederick H., . 


New York, 


New York City, . . . 


Democrat. 


15 


Frear, Alexander, — 


New York, 


New York City, . . . 


Democrat. 




Furman, Kobert, 


Schenectady, — 


Schenectady, 


Democrat. 


4 


Galvin, John,.. , 


New York, 


New York City, . . . 


Democrat. 


o 


Gilford, Sauford, 




Sherwood's, 


Republican. 


1 


Gleason, George M., . . 


St. Lawrence, . . . 


E. Pitcairn, 


Republican. 





Glenn, Elijah M. K., . . 

Guigou, Theodore, 

Halsey, James M., 

Hartman, Anthony, . . . 


Wayne, 


Macedon, 


Republican. 


^ 


Ulster, 


Pine Hill, 


Democrat. 




Suffolk, 


Bridgehampton, . . . 
New York City, . . 


Democrat. 


10 


New York, 


Democrat. 


9 


Hasbrouck, Abra'm E., 
Howard, Harris B., 


Ulster, 


Highland, 


Democrat. 


3 


Rensselaer, 


East Schodack, ... 


Democrat. 


1 


Hubbard, Myron J., .. 
Humphrey, Samuel D., 
Irving, James, 


Otsego, 


Westford, 


Democrat. 






Patterson, 

New York City, . . . 


Democrat. 


16 


New York, 


Democrat. 


q 


Jacobs, John C, 




Brookl}Ti, 


Democrat. 


5 


Johnson, Christopher, 


New York, 


New York City, . . . 


Democrat. 


5 


Jones, William C, 


Kings,.... 


Brooklyn, 


Democrat. 




Juliand, Frederick, . . . 


Chenango, 


Greene, 


Republican 


3 


Keady, Patrick, 

Kiernan, Lawrence D., 




Brooklyn, 


Democrat. 


18 


New York, 


New York City, . . . 


Democrat. 



MEMBERS OF THE ASSEMBLY. 



401 



Dis. 


Asspuiblymcii. 


County. 


Post-office Acldress. 


Politics. 




Kinnoy, Oliver II. T.,. 


Tiopa, 


Waverly ... 


Republican. 




La Ban, Nicholas B., . . 

Lasher, James D., 

Lawrence. Thomas". . . 


Warreu, 

Oswego, 




Republican. 


3 


Fulton, 


Republican. 




Roc';land, 


Nyaek 


Democrat. 




Lefler, David D., 

Little, John F., 


Seneca, 


Farmer Village, . . 
Bath 


Democrat. 


1 


Steuben, 


Democrat. 




Loughran, James 


Greene, 


Windliam Centre, . 


Democrat. 


1 


Louiisbery, William, . . 
Madden, John B., 


Ulster, 

Queens, 


Kingston, 


Democrat. 


2 


Long Island City. . . 


Democrat. 


4 


Mallison, Francis A., . . 
Mann, John F., 


Kings, 


Brooklyn, 

New Bremen 


Democrat. 




Lt'wis, 


Republican. 




Matthcwson, Angell,.. 
McKiever. James. . ... 


Montgomery,. . . 
New York, 


Fort Plain, 


Democrat. 


14 


Nev York City, . 


Democrat. 




Miller, Edmund, 


Chemung, 


Elmira 


Democrat. 


13 


Moran. James C 


New Yi irk 


New York City, . . 


Democrat. 


1 


Murphy, Michael C.,.. 


New York, 


New York City, . .. 


Democrat. 


3 


Nelson Henry C 


Westchester, — 


Sing Sing, 


Democrat. 


4 


Nicholson, Ambrose, . . 
0"Reilley, Daniel, 


Oneida, 

New York 


Oriskany, 


Republican. 


3 


New York City, . . 


Democrat. 


2 


Palmer, Julius M., 


St. Lawrence, . . . 


Russell 


Republican. 


1 


Parshall, DeW tt, 

Penfleld, George J.,... 




Lyons 


Rcpu Mean. 


2 


Westchester, . . . 


New Rochelle, ... 


Democrat. 




Pitts, Edmund L., ... 
Place, John A., 


Orleans, 

Oswego, 


^ledina 


Republican. 
Republican. 


1 


Oswego 


o 


Pond, Alembert 


Saratoga, 


Saratoga Springs, . 


Republican. 


4 


Prince. Alpheuf^, 

Purd}', Samuel M.,. .. 


Erie, 


Clarence, 


De.nocrat. 


1 


Westchester. ... 


We t Farms, 


Democrat. 


12 


Quinn, William B., . . . 


New York, 


New York City, . . . 


Democrat. 


6 


Raber, John, 


Kings, 


Brooklyn, 


Democrat. 


2 


Rannev, Luke, 


Onondaga, 

Ontario, 


Elbridge, 

Phelps, 


Republican. 


1 


Ray, Henry, 


Republican. 


S 


Reed, James, .. 


New York, 


New York City, . . . 


Democrat. 


s 


Reeve, John H., 

Richardson, Alvin, 

Richardson, Silas, 




Wells' Corners,... 
Colosse 


Democrat. 


3 


Oswet^o, 


Republican. 




Allegany, 


Belmont, 


Republican, 



402 



LIFE SKETCHES. 



Assemblymen. 



County. 



Post-office Address. 



Politics. 



Eider, James, 

Riley, James, 

Eogers, Harper W., . . 

Root, Samuel, 

Sargent, Edmund F., . 
Selkreg, John H.,. .. 
Sherman, Wm. C. H., 
Skeels, Ransom M.,. 
Skillman, Francis, . . . 

Smith, Caleb L., 

Smith, Lewis E., 

Stannard, Elisha W., . 

Starr, David G., 

Stevens, James, 

Stewart, Robert, 

SuUard, Albert E., . . . 
Sumner, Jackson A., . . 
Tarbox, Henry F., ... 

Topliff, E. Curtis,.... 

Torrey, Samuel H., .. 

Tower, De Witt C, . . 

Trainer, Peter, 

Underwood, David, . . 

Van Brunt, GeorgeB., 

Van Volkenbnrgh, T., 

Weed, Charles H., . 

Wellington, D. Gerry, 

Wells, Jared A., 

Wendover, Stephen H 

Wiley, William L...... 

Williams, Oliver S., . . 

Wood, Abner I., 

Woods, Francis H., . . . 

Toungove, Truman G. 



Erie, 

New York, . . 
Columbia, . . . . 

Essex, 

Franklin, 

Tompkins, . . , 

Orange, 

Niagara, 

Queens, 

Kings, 

Livingston, . 
Herkimer, .. 

Sullivan, . . . 

Oneida, . .. 

Madison, .. .. 

Delaware, . . 

Albany, 

Genesee, 

Cattaraugus, 

Ontario, 

Kings, 

New York, . . 

Washington, 

New York, . . 

Albany, 

Cayuga, 

Madison, . . . , 

Rensselaer, . 

Columbia, . . 

New York, . 

Yates, 

Monroe, . . . 

Albany, 

Saratoga, . . . 



Sardinia, 

New York City, . . 

Hudson, 

Westport, 

Bangor, 

Ithaca, 

Newburgh, 

Lockport, 

Roslyn, 

Williamsbnrgh, . . 
Livonia Station,.. 
Springfield Centre, 

Monticello, 

Rome, 

Chittenango, 

Franklin, 

Albany, 

Batavia, 

Randolph, 

Naples, 

Green Point, 

New York City, . . . 

Fort Edward, 

New York City, . . . 

Watervliet, 

Weedsport, 

Hamilton, 

Petersburgh, 

Stuyvesant, 

New York City, . . . 

Middlesex Centre, . 

Parma, 

Albany, 

Cohoes, 



Republican. 

Democrat. 

Democrat. 

Republican. 

Republican. 

Republican. 

Democrat. 

Democrat. 

Democrat. 

Democrat. 

Republican. 

Republican. 

Democrat. 

Democrat. 

Republican. 

Republican. 

Democrat. 

Republican. 

Republican. 

Republican. 

Democrat. 

Democrat. 

Republican. 

Republican. 

Democrat. 

Republican. 

Republican. 

Republican. 

Republican. 

Democrat. 

Democrat. 

Republican. 

Democrat. 

Republican. 



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